Destiny of the Dark Destroyer
by junket
Summary: Sequel to "Contradiction of the Malevolent Heart". When the existence of Fablehaven is threatened, a powerful, yet dangerous object may be the only thing capable of saving everyone.
1. Mom's the Word

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fablehaven, just the characters and concepts I made up.

**A/N: Warning, this story is the fourth in a series I'm writing. Please go back and read the others in order of publication if you have not already. **

**Yes, after months of writing nothing, I am back! Lots of personal changes in my life got in the way. I spent a fair amount of time planning this story, so it should be good. Hopefully I won't go too long between updates.**

**Chapter 1: Mom's the Word**

Kendra was in the midst of experiencing true bliss. She was lying down on a remarkably plush surface, her body completely cloaked underneath a heavy cover. As she slowly opened her eyes, light immediately flowed into her sockets. The only source of light in the room came from the window at the front of the attic, not too far from where Kendra's bed was positioned.

Yawning as she turned to glance at her night stand, Kendra saw that the face of her digital clock read 8:34. Normally, Kendra would try to be up by eight o'clock at the latest, until she remembered that the Christmas holidays had already begun.

Tossing the thick duvet off of her upper body, Kendra slid out of bed and stepped up to the window. Looking down through the frosted pane at the preserve below, she could see that the, rooftop, yard and surrounding trees had been hit the previous night by a moderate layer of snow. More than a mere dusting, but probably nothing that would go above her ankles.

Kendra was feeling hungry, and wasted no time in heading down to the second floor to use the bathroom. After taking a shower and freshening up, Kendra returned to the attic, got dressed, then travelled down to the first floor.

As Kendra entered the dining room, she saw Seth seated at the table, in the middle of eating a bowl of one of his sugary cereals.

"At last, Sleeping Beauty awakens," said Seth.

"You're one to talk," retorted Kendra. "This is the first time in forever that you've gotten up before me."

"I know. What's the matter with you?"

"It's the holidays," replied Kendra, as she sat down across from Seth. "We don't have any more lessons until the new year."

Seth smirked. "We're home-schooled now. Every day is practically a holiday."

"Unlike you, some of us prefer to not be half-asleep during our lessons. This is our first day off and I'm in no rush to take it for granted."

"Whatever. Do you want Wheat Flakes cereal or Sweetie Pops?"

"What do you think?"

Without saying anything, Seth passed Kendra the Bran box.

"Never mind," said Kendra, as she reached for the Sweetie Pops.

"What gives?"

"I'm on holiday. Remember?"

Once Kendra and Seth had finished their breakfast and brought their dishes into the kitchen, Mrs. Sorenson approached them.

"Good morning," she said. "Are you two ready to go shopping?"

"You bet!" said Seth excitedly.

Kendra just shrugged.

"What's wrong, Kendra?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "Don't you want to get presents for anybody?"

"I do," responded Kendra. "But what am I supposed to get? We've got everything we want already."

"You know what _I_ want," said Seth eagerly.

Kendra rolled her eyes. "BioWarriors Extreme. But I should be thankful. At least that's your present taken care of. But what about everyone else?"

"Don't worry about it too much," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Even just a card would be a wonderful gift."

"Yeah, a card would be great," said Seth. "As long as it's a prepaid gaming card, worth at least fifty dollars..."

"Seth..." said Mrs. Sorenson sternly."

"What's wrong?" he asked. "By telling people exactly what you want, it's simplifies the process. They spend less time fretting over what to get you, and you get your dream gift."

"Seth has the right idea," noted Kendra. "At least that would save me some trouble."

Mrs. Sorenson sighed. "You're getting worked up over nothing. Now get ready. The mall opens at ten and we need to be there super early because it's going to be packed today."

Kendra and Seth nodded, then ventured back upstairs brush their teeth and to grab a few of their belongings. They came back downstairs and walked out through the front door with their mother.

"At least the path has been shovelled," said Seth, as they walked towards the driveway. He was looking down at the cleared pathway and comparing it to the thick layer of untouched snow that had accumulated on the lawn. "Dale must've gotten Hugo to do it."

"Good morning!" said Warren. Kendra and Seth both looked up and saw Warren flying no more than ten feet above the ground, heading towards them.

"How come you're not using your wings to fly?" asked Kendra.

Warren took in a deep breath, then rubbed his sleeve. "It's too cold to fly without a jacket. And I don't want to cut wing hole in the back."

"That's not it, Warren," said Kendra. "I rarely see you flying with your wings. It's usually with that power Clover bestowed upon you. And even then it's usually only when you're around her. Today you're actually flying solo."

Warren sighed. "I only flew because the path to my cottage hasn't been shovelled yet."

"Don't you like flying?" asked Seth.

"Of course I do. But I feel guilty about doing it. I'm a human, I'm not supposed to fly. And I'm not too big on flaunting fairy wings either."

"I wish you'd at least display them," said Kendra. "They're very pretty."

"That's what all the female fairies say. Which accounts for pretty much all the fairies."

"I know that Clover loves them."

"That's the problem," said Warren. "All this fairy magic has made me someone I'm not. I know Clover's my friend, but the moment I sprouted these wings... _That's_ when she proposed to me. Part of me wants to marry her, but I don't know..."

"If you want to get your mind off of all this, why not come with us to the mall?" asked Seth.

"Thanks, but no thanks," said Warren. "Besides, I already did my Christmas shopping the other day."

"All right, then," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Hope you feel better soon."

"I'm sure I will," replied Warren. "It's Christmas."

"Shotgun!" said Seth, as he dashed up to the front passenger of his parents' SUV.

Kendra rolled her eyes as their mother unlocked the doors and the three of them climbed into the car.

"It's a good thing Hugo's already cleared the driveway," said Mrs. Sorenson, as she started the engine. "No way I'd be able to drive through all this snow if it were unplowed.

Mrs. Sorenson began to drive down the driveway, which looped around at the very end, allowing the car to turn around and head towards the entrance of Fablehaven.

"Poor Warren," said Kendra, as looked out the back window and watched her cousin vanish in the distance. "He doesn't know what he should do."

"I'm no expert on all of this fairy stuff," said Mrs. Sorenson, "but I'm pretty sure Warren's just in denial."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Seth. "Maybe a certain present?"

"This isn't something that can be solved with a gift. When your father was courting me, he wasn't trying to impress me with wings."

"Mom, this is totally different," said Kendra. "Male fairies are practically nonexistent. Clover must've been so happy when she saw that Warren had changed."

"Maybe Warren didn't want to change," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Clover obviously liked him before , but now she seems to like him even more when he became somebody he's not."

As the Sorensons drove out the front gate, the SUV slowed down, and they could hear a thumping noise coming from beneath them.

"What was that?" asked Seth.

"Hugo only cleared up to the gate," said Mrs. Sorenson, as the SUV trudged through the snow towards the road. "Once we get on the road, we should be fine."

Soon the SUV turned onto the road, and was running smoothly again.

"On the subject of Warren, I still want to get him a gift," said Seth. "As well as a wedding present. Whenever that is."

"They still haven't decided," said Kendra. "I think Warren's got cold feet."

"Well, so do I," said Seth. "Mine are all numb. Maybe I can get a new pair of boots today. And I can get Warren a pair as well. What's his foot size?

Over the course of the next hour, Mrs. Sorenson had driven out of the forest and onto the highway, and by the end, had pulled into the parking lot of a large shopping mall in what was otherwise a rural area.

"This place is all parked up!" said Kendra, as they drove past aisle after aisle of parked cars. And it's not even ten yet!"

"I knew we should've gone weeks ago," said Seth. "But does anybody listen to me? Nooooo."

"Seth, you and Kendra were busy with your studies. "I was busy. Most of the other shoppers who are here now were busy."

"Mom, I see a spot up ahead!" exclaimed Seth.

Mrs. Sorenson drove towards the vacant spot that Seth had found, but before they could reach it, another car pulled in.

They continued driving around for a good ten minutes, before Mrs. Sorenson finally found a parking spot at the edge of the lot, far from the mall. They then walked through the parking lot, trying not to get hit by other cars looking for spots, until they finally arrived at an entrance to the mall.

As they walked through the doors, they could see that the hall before them was decorated for Christmas. Colorful lights had been strewn above the stores, along with decorations such as wreaths, foil streamers and plastic candy canes.

Kendra glanced at her watch, which read 9:59. Looking around, she could see various stores opening their doors to the public. As they opened, people proceeded to flock towards them.

"Now, kids," said Mrs. Sorenson. "I know we all have our own agendas, so why don't we split up to do our shopping, then meet up by the big fountain at eleven thirty? You both know where that is, right?"

"Yeah," replied both Kendra and Seth.

The three of them then split up into the crowd of people walking through the mall. First up on Kendra's mind was getting Seth's gift. She made her way over to the mall directory, and once the people in front of her had moved aside, spotted the location of the gaming store on the map.

After a brief walk, Kendra soon made it to the gaming store. Not a very large place, most of the customers who were packed in were either obvious gamers under the age of forty, or older ladies who had never played a video game in their life and were clearly buying something for someone else.

Kendra struggled to get through the noisy crowd, and made her way to the front counter. After holding her hand up for a few minutes, a clerk finally gave her some attention. His name tag said "Ryan".

"Thanks for waiting," said Ryan. "How can I help you today."

"I'd like a copy of... what was it called?"

Ryan rolled his eyes.

"BioWarriors Extreme," said Seth.

"That's right," said Kendra, as she suddenly realized what was going on. She turned around to see her brother standing right behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"Just thought about getting a game. For Newel and Doren."

"Seth you knew I'd be here," said Kendra, turning back to face the clerk. "I'd like to get BioWarriors Extreme, please."

"What system?" asked Ryan.

"Any system," said Seth. "And maybe a points card for the DLC."

"What's DLC?" asked Kendra, drawing looks from Seth, Ryan and just about every gamer who could hear her.

Sometime later, Kendra had made her way around the mall, looking in at various stores. Unsure of what to buy anybody else, Kendra had decided to just settle for stuff that looked nice. Getting around the mall had eaten up a fair amount of time, and once Kendra looked at her watch, she could see that it was almost eleven forty.

She made her way to the fountain, which was located in a large open area near the food court, where she sat down along the rim and was joined by Seth exactly at eleven forty-five.

"Sorry about earlier," said Seth. "But I really did get something for Newel and Doren at the game store."

"Seth, I just want you to be happy."

"Oh, I _am_ happy." said Seth. "You think Mom'll take us to lunch?"

"If she ever gets here. Normally when we agree to meet her somewhere, she's there before us."

After waiting for several minutes, both Kendra and Seth grew perturbed. The PA announcements didn't help. One was about missing child, the other was a reminder that dogs were not allowed in the mall, with the exception of service animals.

"She's probably in a long line or something," said Seth.

"She should at least contact us," said Kendra. "I'm calling her."

Kendra pulled out her phone and called her mother.

"Hi Kendra!" said Mrs. Sorenson.

"Mom, where are you?" asked Kendra. "We were supposed to meet at the fountain five minutes ago."

"I'm sorry," said Mrs. Sorenson. "I lost track of time. I'll be right there."

After waiting for a few more minutes, Mrs. Sorenson finally showed up, clenching shopping bags in her hands.

"Sorry I'm late. I was busy buying presents for you."

Seth attempted to look into one of the bags his mother was holding.

"Don't look in there!" said Mrs. Sorenson. "It's a surprise!"

"Can we get some lunch here?" asked Seth. "I've been eating nothing but home-cooked meals for a month!"

"The horror," said Kendra sarcastically.

"Sure," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Who wants Taco Bell?

Mrs. Sorenson ordered an assortment of tacos, burritos and fries from Taco Bell, and after managing to find a free table in the crowded food court, sat down and ate it.

"I didn't realize you liked fast food so much, mom," said Kendra.

"Normally I don't," replied Mrs. Sorenson. "I mean, it tastes good, but it's fatty."

"Hey, there's an extra burrito," said Seth, pointing to the tray. "Can I have it?"

"No, I think I'll save it. Maybe later as a snack."

Mrs. Sorenson slipped the still-wrapped burrito into one of her bags.

"Mom, are you feeling okay?" asked Kendra.

"I'm just stressed out from all of this shopping," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Why don't we go home?"

The Sorensons made their way out of the mall and back through the parking lot to the SUV, where they loaded all of their bags into the trunk.

"Shotgun," said Kendra, as she made her way around to the front passenger door, while Mrs. Sorenson unlocked the car. They climbed back in to the SUV and Mrs. Sorenson proceeded to back out of the parking space and towards the entrance to the parking lot.

"You kids remember the way back?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Make a left here," said Kendra.

"Oh, right," said Mrs. Sorenson, who then made a left turn driving out of the parking lot.

After roughly half an hour, Kendra glanced at the dashboard and noticed that the gas gauge was almost at empty. "Mom, we need to get gas," she said.

Mrs. Sorenson shook her head. "You're right!"

"There's a station up ahead," said Seth, prompting Mrs. Sorenson to pull into the station and park in front of a pump.

"I'm feeling kind of tired," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Kendra, if you pump the gas for me, I'll give you an early Christmas gift tonight."

"Really?" asked Kendra.

"I'll do it!" said Seth.

"Sorry, but this is for Kendra. "It's a small gift, anyway"

"Fine," muttered Seth, as Kendra got out of the SUV and went over to the pump.

"Mom, are you paying with credit card or cash?"

"Hold on," said Mrs. Sorenson, as she looked through her purse. "Let's go with cash. My credit card bill's gonna skyrocket with all this Christmas shopping."

Kendra proceeded to pump gasoline into the the gas tank, then removed the nozzle once she was finished.

"Seth, here's the money for the gas," said Mrs. Sorenson, handing several bills to her son. "You can get yourself a treat in there as well. In fact, get something for all of us."

Seth smiled, then went into the gas station to pay the bill. He came out holding several chocolate bars in his hand. When he got into the car, he handed a bar each to his sister and mother, who both pocketed them. Seth however just ripped off the wrapper and proceeded with eating his bar, as Mrs. Sorenson drove off.

Before long, they had gotten off the highway, and were driving through the forest towards the entrance to Fablehaven. With the front gate in plain sight, the SUV suddenly veered a few feet off to the side of the road, prompting Mrs. Sorenson to hit the brake.

"Mom!" gasped Kendra. "What's wrong?"

"Ice slick," she replied. "Hold on, I'll be right back! You two stay in the car."

Mrs. Sorenson got out of her seat, went around to the back of the SUV and opened the trunk. She took out a snow shovel and proceeded to clear the snow out from behind the SUV back onto the road.

"Mom, we're close enough to home," said Kendra. "We could easily go get help."

"I'll be finished before help arrives," said Mrs. Sorenson, who continued to clear the snow for another moment, before returning to her seat. She then back up onto the road and drove over to and through the front gates of Fablehaven.

"Mom, are you feeling all right?" asked Seth.

"I... I just have a headache," she replied. "I didn't really want to go out today, but I had no other choice.

As they pulled up towards the house, Kendra and Seth were now for the first time approaching it when it was all decorated for Christmas. Much like the mall, lights and wreaths had been hung up, and several snow and ice sculptures of various magical creatures such as fairies, centaurs and satyrs decorated the yard.

Once they parked and got out of the SUV the Sorensons carried their groceries into the house, where Mrs. Sorenson dumped her bags down in the foyer. "I'm going to lie down for now," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Sorry, but please make sure nobody bothers me until dinner."

The kids watched as Mrs. Sorenson climbed up the stairs to the second floor. They knew something was up with their mother. But what?


	2. The Gift

**Chapter 2: The Gift**

For the rest of the day, Kendra and Seth kept to themselves. While their mother just remained in her bedroom, they were uncertain as to what had gotten into her. Grandma eventually took a look at her, and came to the conclusion that she was just overtired, then proceeded to give her some aspirin. She wanted Mrs. Sorenson to recover so that she would be fit to help out when Christmas finally arrived.

Kendra and Seth spent much of their time that day wrapping the various gifts they had purchased for everyone. When they sat down at the dinner table, they could see that Warren was trying to hide his feelings. He looked a little better, but still wasn't smiling.

Soon Mrs. Sorenson came into the dining room, looking much more cheerful than before. "What's for dinner?" she asked.

"Feeling better?" asked Grandpa, as Mrs. Sorenson took her seat.

"Much better," she said. "I slept horribly last night. That nap was just the thing I needed. Sorry if I was out of it earlier today."

Grandma came into the dining room carrying two plates of pasta, which she placed in front of Seth and Kendra.

"Oh, let me give you a hand with those," said Mrs. Sorenson, as she followed Grandma into the kitchen. They then came back, with each of them carrying two plates. Before long, everybody at the table had been served.

After dinner, Kendra and Seth went out into the garden, where Bright and Clover had met up with Raxtus, Geminus and Vanessa.

"Good evening," said Kendra. The others all greeted them in return. "We're good, but something is up with our mother and Warren."

"What's that?" asked Geminus.

"Our mom was acting funny today," said Kendra. "She was in such a rush. The car almost ran out of gas while she was driving home, and then she drove off road just outside the front gate."

"I'm not that familiar with Christmas," said Bright, "but I've heard that it's a big event, so getting ready for it may have taken a lot out of her."

Kendra nodded. "Yeah. She was better at dinner after resting up."

"What about Warren?" asked Clover.

"Well, he's kind of..."

Kendra was interrupted when something cold smacked her in the back of her head.

"Snowball fight!" blurted Seth, as he tossed another snowball, which hit Raxtus.

"That doesn't really bother me, with my thick scales," said Raxtus.

Seth grunted and lobbed another snowball at Kendra, then threw one at Bright.

"That's cold!" she shrieked, wiping the snow off her face. Bright then grabbed handful of snow off the ground and tossed it towards Seth, but it fell apart just after it left her hand.

"You've got to firmly form the snow into a ball," said Kendra, as she bent down and began packing some snow into a ball, which she chucked at Seth.

"Let me try that again," said Bright, as she tried clumping some snow together, but squeezed too tightly, forming a small stick of snow in her hand.

"Roll," said Kendra, "don't squeeze."

Bright placed the clump of snow down on the ground, then sprinkled a few magical sparkles onto it. It suddenly began to roll into a ball on its own, and started heading towards Seth.

"What are you doing?" asked Seth, as the approaching snowball grew bigger and bigger. Soon the once tiny ball had grown to over three feet in diameter, and was bowling its way towards Seth. Seth began to run away, the snowball only expanding in size as it chased after him.

"Bright, I think that's enough," said Kendra, trying not to laugh.

Bright snapped her fingers, and the snowball suddenly came to a halt, by now, it had become taller than Seth.

"What's going on out there?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, who gazed out of the back door that Seth had just only retreated through. "What's with that huge snowball?"

"I got carried away," said Bright.

"I see," said Mrs. Sorenson. "As long as I'm out here, Kendra would you kindly come inside? I want to give you that present I promised you earlier."

"Really?" asked Kendra.

"What present?" asked Raxtus. "I thought Christmas was next week."

"Just a little something," said Kendra. "I'll see you guys later."

Kendra went back inside the house through the back door, then took off her boots and hung up her coat.

"It's upstairs," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Follow me."

Mrs. Sorenson led Kendra through the kitchen and past the living room, where everyone else was sitting near the blazing fireplace.

"Why don't you ladies join us?" asked Dale.

"We'd love to," said Mrs. Sorenson. "We'll be right back."

Kendra followed her mother up the stairs to the second floor, then up into her attic bedroom.

"All right, Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Close your eyes."

Kendra had her doubts about all of this. Why was her mother acting this way? Feeling concerned, she sat down on her bed and covered her eyes with her hands. However, she made an effort to peek out through a small gap between two of her fingers.

Trying to keep the gap from being too large, Kendra peered through the gap with one eye, and watched as her mother removed a small grey container from her pocket. Unable to make out what it actually was, she watched as her mother held the container out in front of her.

"Okay," said Mrs. Sorenson, "open your eyes."

Kendra opened both of her eyes fully as she removed her hands from in front of them. Now able to see properly, she could tell that the container was actually a jewellery box.

"Mom," said Kendra, astonished. "You got me..."

"Open it up," said Mrs. Sorenson.

Kendra took a breath as she accepted the box from her mother. She opened it up and saw that there was a bracelet inside. Examining the bracelet, it appeared to be made out of silver and diamonds.

"Mom," said Kendra, picking up the bracelet. "It's beautiful. But, why are you giving it to me now?"

"I know it's early, but I need to know if it'll fit you before Christmas Day. So try it on for me, and if it fits, I'll re-gift it and give it to you on Christmas. If not, I can exchange it for one that does fit."

"Oh, Mom!" said Kendra, as she unclasped the bracelet and positioned it around her right wrist. The moment she connected the bracelet, as strange sensation overcame her entire body. She had been completely immobilized! She tried to move her body, but she couldn't. She was frozen on the spot. She tried to talk, but was unable to make any noise nor open her mouth.

"Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson, with a wicked grin, "you are such a fool."

No doubt something was amiss. Kendra wanted to react, but she couldn't. All she could do now was breathe and blink her eyes every few seconds.

"Do you want to know what's going on?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, who got no response. "You may not recognize who I truly am, but we have met before. I'll let you speak again so that we can talk. But don't cry for help, or you'll be sorry."

Kendra could feel herself regaining control of her mouth and throat, although the rest of her body was still petrified.

"All right," said Kendra cautiously, "what's going on? You're not my mother. And if you are, who's controlling you?"

Mrs. Sorenson laughed. "Don't you remember me? I'll give you a hint. I'm a datchit."

Why did that word sound familiar to Kendra? "Datchit? The only datchit I'm familiar with is... Jake."

"You remembered!" exclaimed Mrs. Sorenson.

"Jake!" gasped Kendra. "It's can't be! What happened to you? And what have you done to my mother? And me?"

Mrs. Sorenson giggled. "When I last saw you, you and your knight buddies had boarded me on a plane to Tokyo. I wasn't keen on riding in the cargo hold, but when you look like a poodle to most people, there's not a lot you can do about it. It wasn't very fun. There were a few real dogs down there as well. Big, loud dogs who were howling the whole time. And cats who wouldn't stop wailing."

"What happened to you?" asked Kendra. "That plane crashed into the ocean."

"Yeah," muttered Mrs. Sorenson. "but I survived. After I was found by a rescue team, they were unable to find my so-called owners, since you guys were using fake names. So, I got sent to a dog pound. I thought the cargo hold was bad. This place was worse!"

"So you survived the crash," said Kendra. "Then what?"

"A few days later they took me for my first walk outside of the pound. I attacked the guy walking me so that he dropped my leash and I made a run for it. Once I was free, I stole some woman's smart phone and used it to try and get in touch with the society. But nobody answered. I assumed that Oblivion had failed to awaken Tritanoss, since several days had already passed by then."

"And how did you get the ability to control me?" asked Kendra. "And my mother?"

"Those bracelets you're both wearing," said Mrs. Sorenson, who rolled up her sleeve to reveal that she was wearing a bracelet just like Kendra's. "As long as somebody's wearing one, I have control over them. Same thing as those glasses that controlled Lance. I'm not even on Fablehaven property right now."

Kendra growled in disgust.

"Anyway, I was stranded in San Francisco. And it's not easy to arrange transportation back to Denton when people think you're a dog. So I hitchhiked my way across the country on the back of trains and trucks. Not a very fun way to travel, since I didn't always end up where I wanted. Took me weeks to finally get back. And when I arrived, Oblivion's house in Denton had been abandoned by the society. I found out that it was actually for sale, and they were showing it off to potential buyers. I snuck in and scoped out all the hiding spots I knew about. Apparently, whoever gained control of the house missed a few things that belonged to Oblivion. Namely these possession tools that I found."

"How do you even work these bracelet things?" asked Kendra.

"It's easy. Each tool is connected to a small orb. As long as I'm holding the corresponding orb, I have complete control over over you with my thoughts. I see what you see. I hear what you hear. You move where I want you to move. You say whatever I want you to say. I'm giving you the ability to speak, but I can withdraw it from you at any time."

"And if you let go of the orb?" asked Kendra.

"Then _you_ remain stuck in a trance until that bracelet is removed."

Kendra struggled to grab her bracelet, but couldn't so much as moved either of her arms.

"Try all you like, but as long as you can't control yourself, it's hopeless."

It was all too much for Kendra to absorb. She had no real control over herself, and the person she was with may have been her mother, but in actuality, she was being controlled by Jake, a minor nemesis she never thought she'd have to deal with again.

"So where did you get off taking control of my mother?"

"I had to make my way to Fablehaven. Some of it on foot. Not easy, since most people don't come to this neck of the woods, and it'd be hard for a _poodle_ to ask for a lift. But after taking control of a hostage, I finally found the place on my own, but I couldn't get in because of the protector spell. So I devised a plan. By this point, Christmas was approaching, and I figured somebody would be going somewhere eventually. I camped out near the front gate until this morning, when at last a car pulled out. I hitched a ride on the undercarriage and rode it all the way to that mall. Not a pleasant trip, let me tell you."

"Then what?"

"I followed you guys into the mall. When I saw you three split up, I decided to follow your mother, since I know that you might be able to sense me, and that your brother is a shadow charmer. There place was crowded, so nobody seemed to really mind seeing a poodle running around that wasn't bothering anyone. After she bought a few things, I followed your mother intro the bathroom, crawled in to her stall and took her by surprise, wrapping to bracelet around her wrist. At that point, she was mine."

"What did you do with her?" asked Kendra.

"Nothing too crazy. Didn't want to cause a scene and risk getting caught. I climbed into one of her bags and proceeded to control your mother from there. I didn't know where you kids had gone, but eventually you called your mother's phone and told me where to meet you."

"No..." gasped Kendra. "From that point on, my mother was you?"

"Exactly. Fortunately, I had practised controlling that hostage I had was using so, I knew how to move around and even drive a car. I admit that I failed to notice that the car was running low on gas on the way. Thank you for reminding me. And I didn't know your mom's PIN number, so I had to pay for the gas with cash. By the way, thank you for making sure I found my way back to Fablehaven.

"Then when we got home?"

"I wanted to take control of you from the very beginning. Your mother was nothing more than a pawn to me. I no longer have need for her, but if I let her go, she'll spill the beans. Beside, I never know if I'll need her again. So I can just keep the bracelet on her and pretend that she's sick for the time being."

"You monster,"

"Why thank you," said Mrs. Sorenson. "I've always wanted someone to call me a monster. Makes me feel big. But you're the one I want. And now I've got you and your fairykind power. And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"HELP!" screamed Kendra as loud as she could. "SOMEONE H-"

Kendra went completely mute. Jake had undoubtedly disabled her ability to speak.

"I can't believe you actually thought that would work," said Mrs. Sorenson, who proceeded to smack Kendra by her cheek. Kendra could feel the pain of the impact, but was unable to flinch or shout in response.

"Kendra?" asked Warren, whose voice was coming from the base of the stairs. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, Warren," said Kendra. What was going on? That was the last thing she wanted to say to Warren at this point. Jake was clearly making her say it.

Warren climbed to the top of the stairs. "We heard a scream coming from upstairs, and everyone else is in the living room. "Are you sure everything is all right?"

"We're fine," said Mrs. Sorenson, as she began to rub her leg "I just banged my shin against Kendra's bed."

"It sounded really loud," said Warren.

"It hurt," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Also, I'm not feeling very well, so that shock of the pain really got to me."

"You said you were feeling better at dinner," noted Warren.

"I thought I was. Earlier I was just overtired. Now I feel a cold coming on."

Warren placed his hand against Mrs. Sorenson's forehead. "You feel fine to me."

"Well I feel tired and I have a sore throat. I think when I go do I'll get undressed and go to sleep in the guest room. Don't want Scott to catch anything."

Warren rolled his eyes. "All right, Marla. I'll tell Ruth you're not feeling well. Maybe she can make you tea and give you some medicine. Kendra, do you want to come downstairs with me?"

"No thank you, Warren," said Kendra, speaking against her will. "I think I'll just read something until bedtime."

"Okay, then. Marla, let's get you downstairs."

"I'll be down in a minute," said Marla. "I just want to say goodnight to Kendra."

"'Kay," said Warren, as he made his way back down to the second floor. In her mind, Kendra was pleading for Warren to stay and figure out what was really going on. If only she could tell him about the bracelets.

"Goodnight, Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson. "I have big plans for you. Once the others go to sleep, things'll really get jumping."

As Mrs. Sorenson made her way downstairs, she stuck her tongue out at Kendra. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. At this point, Jake forced Kendra to change out of her clothes and put on her nightgown. Kendra felt like a puppet, her every action being controlled by some mysterious force.

Jake sent downstairs only so that she could brush her teeth, and was in control of every last stroke. She then returned to her bedroom, shut off the light, and sat down on her bed. Now she was nearly motionless. She was limited only to blinking and breathing. No doubt Jake was waiting until later to do anything with Kendra.

About an hour later, Mr. Sorenson came up into the attic. "Kendra," said Mr. Sorenson. "Kendra?

Jake suddenly took control of Kendra. "Oh, uh, hi... Dad."

"Kendra," said Mr. Sorenson. "I just wanted to let you know that your mother is feeling a tad ill. Hopefully you're not coming down with anything yourself."

"Oh, no. I feel perfectly fine. Nothing's the matter." Kendra couldn't have been any more wrong.

"Well that's good. I know you've been with your mother quite a bit today, and I just wanted to be sure.

Mr. Sorenson walked over to Kendra and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Good night, dear."

"Good night, Dad," said Kendra, as her father walked over to the staircase and went down from the attic. Having a so-called _good night _was the last thing that Kendra was about to experience.


	3. Possession

**Chapter 3: Possession**

For several hours, Kendra lay in bed, completely motionless. With no control over her body, she had no choice but to remain perfectly still, and could do nothing beyond her routine breathing and blinking, no doubt a fail-safe that kept her body alive. However, she was still awake and alert, fully able to think in her mind. She was furious with Jake. Even though somebody had taken control of both her mother and herself, she had a hard time accepting that Jake of people was behind it.

In her condition, Kendra was completely helpless. Although she was frequently supervised by fairies, Kendra no longer had her own fairy guardian, and even if she did, she had no way to summon it.

After what seemed like forever, Kendra finally began to move. She turned onto her side and slid out of bed, her feet landing upon the floor. While she was moving, Kendra managed to glance at her bedside clock, the time of which displayed one o'clock on the dot. She then proceeded towards the stairway leading down to the second floor.

* * *

Downstairs, Seth was sitting upon his bed. The only source of light in the room was the glow of thee widescreen TV situated across from his bed, which was displaying the video game he was currently engaged in. As Seth had muted the TV, the only sound he could hear was himself rapidly pressing buttons on the controller in his hands.

Having been playing with no sound for over two hours at this point, Seth was almost caught off guard when he heard footsteps creaking in the hallway outside his door. Although Seth was used to hearing people pass through the hallway at night, these footsteps sounded as though they were moving exceptionally slowly.

Seth paused his game, and continued to listen to the footsteps. He could hear that they were coming from the direction of the attic, and were making their way to the stairs leading down to the first floor. What was going on?

Seth slipped out of bed and crept over towards his bedroom door, where he was able to better listen in on the footsteps out in the hallway. Soon he could hear them making their way down the stairs, step by step.

Seth opened his door as quietly as possible and stepped into the hallway. Walking slowly and softly to refrain from making too much noise, Seth approached the stairs, where he could hear the footsteps, now coming from the first floor below. Peering down from the top of the stairs, Seth could see Kendra in the foyer, removing her winter jacket from the closet.

_What could she be up to? _Seth wondered to himself, watching as Kendra threw her winter coat on over her nightgown. Part of him wanted to march downstairs and demand an explanation from his sister. However, his conscious told him that it might be better to not interfere. Ultimately, Seth figured that it was better if she didn't know he was snooping on her.

Kendra then slipped into her winter boots, then proceeded to open the front door, walk out and close it behind her. What was she up to? Seth scurried downstairs, tossed on his own jacket and boots, then proceeded to slip out through the front door himself.

A powerful gust of snowflakes blasted into Seth's face the moment he stepped over the threshold, the sheer coldness of the snow nearly froze his skin. As if the darkness of the night wasn't enough to mess with visibility, there were also flurries blowing through the air. It was bad enough that Kendra could see in the dark.

Had Seth even brought a light, it would've only been something to potentially alert Kendra. Fortunately, Kendra had left footprints in the snow. As long as he could keep track of them, Seth would be able to follow his sister.

Staying a good thirty or so feet behind, Seth wanted to make sure Kendra wouldn't discover him. His invisibility in the darkness was moot to someone who could see in the dark, and if he got too close, she would most likely hear him.

"Seth!" exclaimed a voice, nearly scaring Seth half to death. Clover floated in front of where he was standing.

"Gahh!" muttered Seth. "Don't scare me like that!"

"What are you and Kendra doing out here at this hour?"

"I'm following Kendra, but only to find out what _she's_ doing," said Seth, as he continued to follow the path that had been made with Kendra's footprints.

"Very unusual," noted Clover.

"I know. Normally, I'm the one who'd pull a stunt like this."

"Something isn't right. We need to find out what Kendra's up to."

"She might not spill the beans if you confront her. Besides, spying is more fun."

Clover shrugged. "All right. But if anything unusual happens, we're taking a direct approach.

Clovers hands proceeded to glow green, and she unleashed their energy upon Seth, who suddenly began to levitate into the air.

"What're you doing?" asked Seth.

"Would you prefer to walk through all this snow?"

Without responding, Seth waited for Clover to float into the air and direct him along the path that Kendra had taken. Seth was pretty sure that Kendra was undoubtedly heading in the direction of the naiad's pond. Sure enough, they arrived just in time to witness Kendra walking across the rainbow bridge to the island in the centre. Clover landed, then placed Seth down on the ground.

"Business with the Fairy Kingdom?" asked Seth. "Even if it's just Bracken, Kendra would never run off just to visit him in the middle of the night."

"Bright!" said Kendra. "Come to me."

A flash of rainbow sparkles appeared in front of Kendra. When they faded, Bright was standing before her.

"Kendra?" asked Bright. "What's going on?"

"I need to visit the Fairy Kingdom."

Seth and Clover looked at each other.

"Under what circumstance?" asked Bright

"I wish to see Bracken."

"It's the middle of the night," said Bright, placing her hands on her hips. Kendra, what's going on?"

"I order you, in the name of the Fairy Queen, to grant me access to the Fairy Kingdom."

Bright squinted her eyes and frowned. "All right," she muttered.

"What's going on?" yelled Seth, as he proceeded to run across the rainbow bridge towards the island.

"Seth!" gasped Kendra. "What are you doing here, you stupid little pest?"

"I should be the one asking you."

"Bright, I..."

Seth immediately tackled Kendra, pinning her down against the ground and covered her mouth with his hand.

"Seth..." said Bright. "Get off of her."

"Bright, you can see that's something's wrong!"

"I know. But Kendra ordered me to grant her access to the Fairy Kingdom. I must fulfil her request."

Bright then used her rainbow-like magic to pry Seth off of Kendra's body, and set him aside.

"Seth..." growled Kendra. "I _should_ have you turned into a platypus. But I need you back at home as a human. Clover, in the name of the Fairy Queen, I command you to put Seth into a deep sleep, send him back to his bed and return his winter clothing to the foyer. Then don't mention what you witnessed to anyone."

Clover frowned, then hesitated for a moment, as though she was being forced to go along with Kendra's plan. "All right, Kendra."

"No!" exclaimed Seth. "Don't do it!"

"I have to," said Clover, as she used her magic on Seth. Seth immediately grew weary and closed his eyes, falling asleep on the spot.

"Kendra, what has gotten into you?" asked Bright, as Clover magically made both herself and Seth disappear.

"He's such a brat, sometimes. Now, let me into the Fairy Kingdom. Please?"

"I really don't want to," said Bright. "But, I must obey you."

Bright conjured up a cluster of rainbow sparkles and used them to make the statue of the Fairy Queen illuminate. "The portal is open, Kendra."

"Good, Bright," said Kendra, who deep down inside wanted to warn Bright over what was actually going on."

"That will be all, Bright. Now, in the name of the Fairy Queen, I command you to leave me alone and never tell anyone about what I've done tonight."

Bright snarled. "Yes, Kendra," she said reluctantly.

Kendra then placed her hand upon the statue of the Fairy Queen. The statue shone brilliantly, causing the entire area around her to shimmer in a spectral glow. Once the glow faded, Kendra found that she had been transported from the island of the Fairy Queen to a garden in the Fairy Kingdom. It was where she regularly ended up whenever she travelled through the portal. Even though she could see in the dark, it was also nighttime in the Fairy Kingdom as well.

Kendra looked around, and was unable to find anybody. "Kendra, I want you to tell me where the royal gallery is," she said, although it was actually Jake speaking through her.

"It's in the palace," said Kendra, under her own control. "Why?"

"Since you seem to know the way, I'll give you control of your body so we can do this quickly. But I'm keeping your hands locked, so don't get any ideas trying to remove the bracelet."

Kendra felt a strange energy surge through her body. She was able to move again! She pivoted her arms and legs around for a moment, relieved to be back in control of her body. But, as Jake had said, she could not control her hands. They were completely stiff from wrists to her fingertips.

"I'm giving you a fair chance, so don't make this more difficult than it already is."

_This is anything but fair,_ Kendra said to herself, as she walked through the garden. At least Jake could not sense her thoughts, or so she hoped. The garden was actually quite serene, filled with trees, shrubbery, flowers, streams and bridges. Alas, this was not the time to admire it.

At the edge of the garden, Kendra had entered a village made up of spherical houses. It was the village that surrounded the royal castle. As it was nighttime, the streets and alleys of the village appeared to be completely silent. Not too far from where she entered the village, Kendra found the Fairy Queen's royal castle, its diamond walls twinkling in the moonlight.

Kendra approached the front gate at the entrance to the castle, where she was spotted by a fairy that served as a guard.

"Kendra Sorenson?" asked the guard, who bowed before her. She sported teal hair and wings that resembled stained glass windows. "What brings you here?"

"I need to visit Bracken," said Kendra, now under Jake's control. "Please allow me to enter."

"Well, I really shouldn't grant entry at a time like this. If there's an emergency, I should alert the Fairy Queen."

"No! In the name of Her Majesty the Fairy Queen, I order you to let me through.

Like Clover and Bright before her, the guard shook her head and produced a small crystal key. She held the key up to the gate and it glowed, prompting it to open. "Go on in, Kendra," she said begrudgingly.

"You know what, let me have the key."

"Kendra, I cannot,"

"I order you to give me the key."

The guard unwillingly obliged.

"Are there more of you guards in the castle?"

"Yes."

"I order to to make me invisible."

The guard sighed and used her magic on Kendra, prompting her to fade from view as she looked through her fully transparent arms

"Now, I order you to leave me alone and not tell anyone about what I have done."

"Yes, Kendra."

Kendra then walked through the gate and up to the large front doors of the palace. Although it was invisible along with the rest of her body, Kendra held the key up to the doors, causing them to unlock and swing open.

As Kendra uncontrollably made her way across the threshold and into the palace, she kept praying in her mind that one of the fairies would somehow be able to detect her, realize that something was amiss, and actually be able to help her.

"Listen to me," said Kendra very softly, speaking for Jake in actuality. "Go straight to the gallery. No funny business."

In control of her movement again, Kendra hesitated and proceeded down the hallway in the direction of the gallery. She knew what Jake was after couldn't be good, and had a feeling she knew what it was. As she walked through the corridors, Kendra saw that there were very few guards throughout the palace. She resisted the urge to call out to them, because she knew that any attempt she made would be circumvented by Jake.

After passing through a few more hallways, Kendra stopped before a large set of crystal doors. She then held up the key, prompting the doors to swing open. She then entered the gallery.

Inside the gallery were many paintings and sculptures, most of which were related to either fairies or unicorns. However, Kendra did not have any time to admire any the artwork, for Jake had taken control of her again.

Soon Kendra had approached an exhibit that was all too familiar to her. It was a life-size statue of Kendra in her fairyprime form, built out of a vibrant display of different gemstones. The statue was in a pose that had her arms stretched out, and appeared to be using magic on its neighbor, Oblivion.

The statue of Oblivion was not a true work of art. It actually _was_ Oblivion, frozen in stone with a look of horror permanently etched onto her face.

"Yes," said Jake, speaking through Kendra. "It's really here, isn't it."

"She... she's just stone, now," muttered Kendra.

"She's still alive in there, isn't she?" asked Jake.

"I... I don't know..." said Kendra.

"That's where you come in," said Jake. "_You_ were the one who overpowered Oblivion and turned her to stone. So, _you _havethe power to restore her."

"I can't. Even if I wanted to, which I never would. I'm not even fairyprime."

"You think I can't just round up some of the guards and convince them to lend you their power, if you alone aren't enough?"

Jake forced Kendra to place her hands into those of Oblivion's. "Now, lend Oblivion your power. Restore her back to normal."

Kendra desperately wanted to fight back, but had no control whatsoever. She could feel energy flowing through her arms then her hands, and into the statue.

After a few seconds, the statue began to glow brilliantly. Kendra removed her hands and stepped away from it, as it suddenly lit up fiercely in a bright flash of light. Once the light started to die down, Kendra saw, to her horror, that Oblivion was alive once again.

Oblivion immediately writhed in horror, as if she was still enduring her initial transformation into stone. She then shook her head, stopped and stood up straight. There was a look of confusion upon her face.

"Kendra?" asked Oblivion, sounding confused. "What happened? Where am I?"

"Hello Oblivion," said Kendra. Although she was speaking calmly, in actuality she was terrified.

"What's going on?" asked Oblivion. "Where are you? Are you even fairyprime?"

"I'm not entirely Kendra. I'm actually Jake, controlling Kendra through that bracelet she's wearing. Also, Kendra's invisible."

"Jake?" asked Oblivion, as she slowly stepped forward. "The datchit who hangs out with Matthew and Ashley?"

"Yup."

"Ashley told me you died in a plane crash,"

"Ashley's the one who's dead now. For a while, actually. You've been turned to stone for over three months. But after taking control of Kendra, I revived you."

Oblivion formed a wicked smile. "You really are a loyalist, Jake. But why did it take you so long to come and find me?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly easy for me."

"Never mind. What matters now is that I'm alive again. Is this the gallery of the royal palace of the fairies?"

"That's right. You can launch a sneak attack on the fairies and steal back the instruments of eternal power any time."

"No," said Oblivion. "Not now. I'm far too weak to go through with that right now. I suggest we retreat."

"Well, I'm actually back in the mortal realm myself."

"Very well. I shall return there with Kendra, rest up and we can formulate a proper plan together."

"But how are you going to get back? You're not invisible."

"I still have enough power to escape from this place," said Oblivion, as she snapped her finger and vanished from Kendra's line of sight. She then grabbed Kendra's invisible hand with her own. "Let's get out of here."

Kendra then led Oblivion out of the palace and back through the town, before arriving at the garden that was home to the fairy shrine.

"It's closed," muttered Kendra.

"Allow me," said Oblivion, as she used her magic to activate the fairy shrine.

Kendra then placed her hand upon the fairy shrine, and she was transported back to the shrine at Fablehaven along with Oblivion. The cold shock of the weather startled both of them.

"Fablehaven," said Oblivion. "How I detest this place."

Kendra proceeded to walk onto the rainbow bridge to cross the naiad's pond, while Oblivion opted to fly over it.

"Where should we go?" asked Kendra.

"As tempting as it is to remain at Fablehaven, I suggest we retreat. The less we stay here, the less likely we are to get caught."

Kendra and Oblivion then proceeded through the forest until they made their way to the main driveway. They then walked down the driveway towards the exit.

"You sure you wanna leave?" asked Kendra. "You won't be able to get back in."

"It doesn't matter," said Oblivion. "_Kendra _can still get back in, can she not?"

Kendra nodded, and together with Oblivion, the two of them passed through the front gate of the preserve.


	4. Evasion

**Chapter 4: Evasion**

Under the manipulative control of Jake, Kendra held Oblivion by her hand and proceeded to lead her down the forest road for a dozen yards or so, their feet crunching through the unplowed snow.

"How far do we have to go?" asked Oblivion. "I detest the cold."

"Hold on," said Kendra.

Kendra then turned off the road and ventured into the thicket for several more yards, before reaching a sedan that had been parked off-road. Kendra walked over to the rear driver side door and opened it up. She and Oblivion looked inside and saw none other than Jake sitting in the backseat of the car, clenching an orb in his tiny goblin-like hand.

"Hello Oblivion. Kendra," said Jake with a devious grin. "You are here, right?"

Oblivion did something to make herself visible again, then waved her hand upon Kendra to restore her as well.

"Is this better?" asked Oblivion.

"Much. Step inside. Both of you."

Jake leaped into the front passenger seat and waited for Kendra and Oblivion to climb in and close the door. Compared to the cold weather outside, Jake had kept the car's heater on, and the difference was blatantly noticeable.

"Not much in the way of comfort," noted Oblivion.

"Sorry, but when you're my size, cars seem bigger than you think. Anyway, I bet you're wondering how we arrived at this point."

"Yes, an explanation would be nice," said Oblivion.

Jake told Oblivion the story he had previously told Kendra, but also added the part of how he had taken control of Kendra and used her to infiltrate the Fairy Kingdom.

"How very... resourceful," said Oblivion with a smile.

"I gotta ask," said Jake, "how come all you did with the power to control people was take control of Lance? Why not just go for Kendra, or some other powerful people?"

"I wanted Tritanoss. Just so that Ashley could assume his form. Remember that Kendra's kidnapping through Lance was but a test for Matthew and Ashley."

"They're goners now. From what I can tell, we may be the only surviving members of the Evening Star. Although the Sphinx is rumored to be alive."

"I care not for the Sphinx. He botched the whole demon prison incident, and being a single fairy, I lacked the power to control the demons. He got what was coming to him."

"So what are we doing with Kendra?"

"We'll save her for later. My only concern now is that the fairies will notice that my statue is missing."

Jake huffed. "Guess I didn't really think this one through."

"I've got a plan," said Oblivion. "Hopefully, the fairies won't catch on to what's happening until after tomorrow. That gallery doesn't seem to get too many visitors. But for now, take me to the nearest hotel."

"One last thing," said Jake. "I've also taken control of Kendra's mother, but she's back at Fablehaven. If we leave her here, people are going to realize something's up unless we want to control her all day."

"I'd be content just letting her die, but we cannot attract any unwanted attention. I know. Give me the orb you're using to control her."

Jake passed an orb to Oblivion, who then clenched it in her hand. He and Kendra waited around for at least 20 minutes before Mrs. Sorenson walked up to the car wearing a blank expression on her face. She then sat down in the back seat next to Kendra.

"_Mrs. Sorenson_ just left a note for the others. It says that Kendra had severe stomach pains and that her mom had to take her to the hospital ASAP."

"Won't they be suspicious when they call the hospital and realize that she's not there?"

"Leave that to me. I'll keep them distracted to buy us time."

Oblivion then passed the orb controlling Mrs. Sorenson to Jake. Drive away with her. I do not know how to operate a car."

Taking control of Mrs. Sorenson, Jake made her get out of the car and back into the front seat. She then proceeded to start the car.

"As for you, Kendra," said Oblivion, staring into the poor girl's frozen face, "you ruined everything I had stood to obtain. So I am going to ruin _you _and everybody you care about."

Kendra wanted to react, but the power of her bracelet was too strong. She had no choice but to remain still as Jake drove back onto the road and away from the direction of Fablehaven.

"Good night, Kendra," said Oblivion, as she waved her hand at Kendra, immediately causing her to feel tired and fall asleep on the spot.

A stinging feeling overcame Seth's head, as though someone had set off a bomb inside his cranium. Feeling groggy, Seth opened his eyes and was awakened by the sunlight pouring in through his window.

"Kendra..." said Seth wearily.

"Seth, wake up," said Mr. Sorenson, who was standing by his bedside.

"Dad?" asked Seth, feeling exhausted. "I had this really weird dream. Kendra ran off into the forest, and I followed her. And...The fairies did something. But I can't remember... But it seemed so real..."

"That's impossible," said Mr. Sorenson. "Your TV and game system were on all night. You must've stayed up too late and fallen asleep."

"But, this felt _so_ real."

"Look, something really strange happened last night. Kendra had appendicitis. But, apparently, the only person she told was your mother and the two of them went straight to the hospital. They didn't tell anybody. They just wrote a note and left."

"Is Kendra all right?" asked Seth.

"Let's hope so," said Mr. Sorenson. "We don't even know which hospital they went to."

Seth quickly got dressed and went down to the kitchen were the rest of his family had gathered.

"Why would they just leave so suddenly?" asked Seth.

"Appendicitis is a critical condition," replied Dale. "Your mother probably just wanted to get Kendra professional help as quickly as possible without waking anyone else up."

"What hospital are they even at?" asked Grandpa Sorenson."

"Beats me," said Mr. Sorenson. "Think I'll call Marla and see where they went."

Mr. Sorenson then took out his cell phone and speed-dialled his wife. "Hello? Hi dear! How is Kendra? Oh she is? That's great!"

Mr. Sorenson lowered his phone from his mouth. "She's going to be all right." He then put the phone back up to his mouth. "Which hospital are you staying at? Really? Oh, all right. Maybe we'll come over later today. Look, tell Kendra that we love her, and that we're glad she's all right. I love you too, dear. See you soon."

Mr. Sorenson hung up and turned to face the others. "Kendra's been taken care of. I think we should go and visit her after lunch sometime."

"So far so good," said Oblivion, as Mrs. Sorenson placed her cell phone down on a table in front of her. They were in a middle class hotel room somewhere, along with Kendra and Jake. Kendra was still motionless, and was currently seated in a chair.

The past night had been dreadful. Oblivion and Jake had brought Kendra and her mother to a hotel in a small town about an hour away from Fablehaven. Once Kendra had woken up in the morning, Oblivion explained that once they arrived at the hotel, they used Mrs. Sorenson's driver's license to book a room. With Oblivion's concealed wings and Jake's resemblance to a poodle, they were able to pass off as three women with a dog. Kendra couldn't even remember this part happening. She had been told that Oblivion had awakened her for a few minutes while they checked in to the hotel.

Kendra and her mother were finally relieved of the bracelets and could resume control of their bodies after waking up in the morning, but not after they had been bound and gagged by Jake and Oblivion. Kendra had been given one of the queen size beds to sleep on, while Mrs. Sorenson was relegated to an extra cot that had been sent up to the room. Oblivion took the other bed, while Jake slept on a cushioned chair.

"So the Fablehaven geeks bought your story?" asked Jake, who was lying on one of the two queen size beds with his legs crossed.

"For now, yes," said Oblivion. "And while they're out and running around looking for Kendra and her mother at some hospital, we'll return to Fablehaven and send Kendra back into the Fairy Kingdom. "But right now, we've got some work to do."

"Work?" asked Jake. "I don't like work."

"We need to acquire proxies of the instruments of eternal power. Based on what Snitch reported, and what the ancient tome said, we should be able to replicate their dimensions almost perfectly.

"How do we get these fake gems?" asked Jake.

"Simple. We visit a welder and have him forge the bases for fake instruments, then paint them gold. While he's doing that, we get a glass cutter to make fake crystals. We then glue the gems into the bases to create our fake instruments. Once that's done, Kendra will travel into the Fairy Kingdom and switch them for the real gems. That way no one will notice that they're missing until it's too late."

"No!" mumbled Kendra from behind her gag.

"I thought we agreed that if we removed your bracelet, you would behave," said Oblivion. "And now that I've rested up, my power has gotten stronger than it was last night.

Kendra mumbled something else, prompting Oblivion to remove her gag. Kendra gasped.

"Please! I know I can't stop you. But don't! I'm barely slept last night and I'm hungry."

"So am I," said Jake, as he handed the the room's telephone receiver to Oblivion. "At least get us all some food before we go."

"Very well," said Oblivion, as she pushed a button on the phone and placed an order for some room service. Ten minutes later, a bellhop brought several plates to their room. Kendra and Mrs. Sorenson had been forced to wear their bracelets and were thrown into the closet when their food arrived, but were relieved of them as well as their ropes and gags once the bellhop left.

"I'll let you two control yourselves while you eat," said Oblivion. "The sooner we get out of here, the better. So don't take your time."

Kendra's looked down at her plate and saw that her breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, ham and hash browns, along with a glass of orange juice. The others had all been served the same thing as well.

"You... horrible people!" scowled Kendra.

"Oh, is that any way to talk to someone who's treating you to breakfast?" asked Jake.

"On _my_ credit card!" growled Mrs. Sorenson. "Oh, that's nothing compared to what's _really_ happening!"

"Temper, temper," said Oblivion, sipping her orange juice.

"You...," muttered Mrs. Sorenson. "You..."

"Mom, quiet!" snapped Kendra.

"You _bitch_!"

"A bitch, am I?" asked Oblivion. She then aimed her hands at Marla and cast her magic upon her. Marla suddenly shrinking and was soon transmogrified into a chihuahua.

"Mom!" cried Kendra.

"I won't say," said Jake. "It's too easy."

Mrs. Sorenson began barking loudly.

"Oh, be quiet," muttered Oblivion. "Just because we checked in saying we have a dog doesn't give you the right to start barking up a storm."

"Um, if we checked in using Marla, won't we need her to check out?" asked Jake.

"Who cares about checking out?" asked Oblivion. "We don't need to stay another night. Marla getting in trouble with the law is the least of her worries now."

Oblivion waved her hand, prompting a muzzle and leash to magically appear on Marla. She then waved her hand a second time, causing a leash to appear on Jake.

"A _leash_?" moaned Jake. "Lame."

"It's more trouble than it's worth to control Kendra right now," said Oblivion. "So keep your mouth shut and stay with me."

After gathering up their things, Oblivion opened the door and dragged Marla out into the hallway by her leash.

"Let's go," said Jake from behind Kendra. At the moment, he appeared to be standing on four legs, no doubt to give others the impression that he was a normal dog.

Holding Jake's leash, Kendra followed Oblivion out of the room and into the hallway. They boarded an elevator that contained another family, consisting of two parents, a son and a daughter. They looked happy, and Kendra wanted to cry for help, but knew the consequences of what would happen if she did.

"Poodle!" said the young girl, as she bent down to pet Jake. Jake then snapped at the girl, nearly biting her hand off. She screamed in horror.

"Mommy!"

"Oh, I am _so_ sorry!" said Oblivion.

"You _should_ be sorry!" roared the father, a large, portly man "Your stupid dog nearly bit her!"

"I don't appreciate being yelled at," said Oblivion.

Oblivion waved her hands, prompting the family of four to all shrink down and transmogrify into squirrels.

"Let's see how you think of doggies now," said Oblivion, as the door to the lobby slid open, and the four squirrels hopped off.

"How could you?" asked Kendra, as the doors closed and the elevator continued to the basement.

"Being a fairy, I am unable to magically inflict harm upon others. Besides, I enjoy turning people into worthless animals."

"Turn them back," said Kendra, as the doors slid open and they all stepped out into the parking garage.

"Who's gonna make her?" asked Jake, as he trotted along next to Oblivion until they reached the spot where Jake's stolen car had been parked.

"Since her mother is a dog, let's let Kendra drive," said Oblivion.

Kendra froze. "What? Are you insane? I can't drive! I don't even have my license."

"Neither do I," said Jake, as he started to laugh. Oblivion grinned, then pulled out a bracelet.

"I am _not_ wearing that again!"

"Too bad," said Oblivion, as she quickly held up her hands and expelled a magical force directly at Kendra, causing her to trip over backwards. Mrs. Sorenson growled furiously through her muzzle.

Kendra's backside crashed directly onto the pavement. Before should could react to the pain, Jake grabbed Kendra's right hand and watched as Oblivion magically directed the bracelet onto her wrist, which he quickly fastened. Kendra had now lost all free control of her body.

"Stupid kid," said Oblivion, as she and Jake both climbed into the rear seat of the car. After a few seconds, Kendra could feel Jake's influence overwhelming her own. She placed her hands onto the ground and pushed herself back up until she was in a standing position. She then opened the front door and crawled into the driver's seat.

"We aren't too thrilled to be using the bracelet," said Oblivion, "but we know that you just won't cooperate if we don't."

"Where to now?" asked Jake.

"We need to get those phony instruments produced for us. Have Kendra drive us to one of these addresses."

Although she was unable to turn her head back, Kendra could her the crinkling of a note that Oblivion was handing to Jake.

"All right," said Jake, whom Kendra seemed confident was reading the note. "The GPS'll get us there!"

Kendra moved her hand over to the GPS unit on the dashboard, then tapped the screen a bunch of times. As Jake was controlling Kendra's hand, yet looking at the screen with his own two eyes, Kendra was unable to detect what commands Jake was making her input into the GPS. Not that it mattered, as she had no control over what was happening to her anyway.

Oblivion then handed Kendra the car keys, and she used them to start up the car. Although her stingbulb had driven a car to escape from Torina, presumably under instinct, Kendra had never really had any proper opportunity to get behind the wheel and drive. She assumed that Jake knew what he was doing. After all, he had gotten to Fablehaven and now to this hotel using humans as puppets to do the actual driving for him.

Kendra backed out of the parking spot, then drove around the parking lot and went up a ramp, where she exited onto the street. Driving for her was a weird experience, even without someone else controlling her.

Kendra drove down a good number of blocks, unclear of whatever town it was that she had been taken to, until she finally pulled over into a parking spot next to the curb.

"This is it," said Jake. "If you need cash, I got lots of it stashed in the glove compartment."

"Wait here," said Oblivion, as she got out of the car. She then opened the front passenger seat and from there, opened the glove compartment, where she grabbed several scrunched up dollar bills from a large stash.

Oblivion then walked off down the sidewalk. The group waited for a good fifteen minutes or so, until Oblivion finally returned, sitting down in the back seat.

"The phony bases and crystals are being made at this very moment," said Oblivion. "I also went to the hardware store and picked up some crazy glue that we can use once they're ready."

"How long will it take?" asked Jake.

"I paid both the welder and glass maker a sizable sum of money to ensure that they put their other projects on hold while they work on my items. I told them that their products don't need to be their finest work, so everything should be ready by the end of the day."

"And once we have the finished products?" asked Jake

"Then, we can send Kendra back into the Fairy Kingdom and have her switch the real instruments with the phonies. If the fairies even _do_ find out, it will be too late."

"It's still going to be a while before everything's ready," said Jake. "Sooner or later they're going to figure out what's going on."

"Who cares?" asked Oblivion. "Even if they do figure out that Kendra isn't really at the hospital, the Knights of the Dawn don't know what we're up to or where we are. We can send Kendra into Fablehaven at any time. Our only concern is that the knights don't coax the fairies into using the Omega Star to locate Kendra. The fairies may think highly of Kendra, but her disappearance wouldn't create an uproar amongst them. Hopefully, I can buy us any time we need by letting Kendra call home."


	5. Planning

**Chapter 5: Planning**

Over an hour had passed since Mr. Sorenson had left Fablehaven. Riding along with him in his SUV was Seth in the passenger seat, while Warren and Grandma rode in the back. At one point during their drive, they had stopped to pick up an arrangement of flowers from a florist, which for the remainder of the trip, sat between Grandma and Warren.

Before long, they had arrived in a moderately-sized town not too far away from Fablehaven. After driving around for a few more blocks, they pulled in to the underground parking lot of a hospital. After driving around the parking lot for a few minutes, trying to locate a vacant space,

"Finally, we're here," said Mr. Sorenson, once he parked the SUV. Everyone stepped out, with Warren carrying the flowers in his arms.

The group rode an elevator up to the lobby and went over to the front desk.

"Excuse me," said Mr. Sorenson to the receptionist. "But, did a patient named Kendra Sorenson check in here last night?"

"Ken-dra Sor-en-son?" asked the receptionist, enunciating each syllable.

"Yup."

"S-O-R-E-N-S-O-N?"

"That's right."

The receptionist typed the letters into her computer, the shrugged.

"I'm sorry, but there were no admissions under the name of Sorenson last night."

"Maybe the person who entered it made a typo?" asked Grandma.

The recptionist pressed a few more buttons. "I'm looking under all the S's that were admitted last night. No Sorensons, and no S's with the first name Kendra."

"But my wife told me that she came to this hospital with our daughter," exclaimed Mr. Sorenson.

"I'm sorry, but there's nobody named Kendra Sorenson at this hospital."

Mr. Sorenson held up his hands. "Say no more," he said, stepping away from the front desk. He sat down on a nearby bench and pulled out his cell phone. "I'm going to call Marla and find out where the hell they are."

Mr. Sorenson proceeded to call his wife, then placed his phone to his head. He waited for almost ten seconds before hearing a response. "Kendra!" he gasped. "How are you?"

"Good," said Kendra, who was in actuality being controlled by Jake.

"How do you feel?"

"Uh, I feel very tired," moaned Kendra.

"Um, we've got a bit of a problem. We're at the hospital, but they're telling us that you're not there."

"Oh? We're at the hospital right now."

"Where's your mother?"

"She went to get some lunch. She'll be back later.

"Why do you have her phone?"

"She... left it with me by accident."

"Look, we're down in the lobby, but the receptionist is telling us that there's no record of you ever checking in last night."

"That's odd,"

"Well, what room are you in? We'll just come up anyway."

"Uh, I'm in room 609."

"You are?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "Great. We'll be right up."

"Okay, Dad! See you soon! Bye!"

"Bye!"

Kendra disconnected from the call. She was sitting in the driver's seat of Jake's stolen car, and had temporarily pulled over. She handed the cell phone over to Oblivion.

"That was a close one," said Jake, as he proceeded to resume control of Kendra and forced her to continue driving.

"I don't know how much longer we can keep them busy like this," said Oblivion. They're going to suspect something is up if we keep misdirecting them. All we need now is a few more hours. I really wish those phony instruments didn't take so long to make.

"I don't get it," said Jake. "If Kendra's just going to infiltrate the Fairy Kingdom and seize the real instruments with nobody able to stop her, why're we even going through the trouble of stealing these phonies?"

"The five instruments are all scattered around the Fairy Kingdom. And Kendra is the only one of us who can enter the Fairy Kingdom and demand that the keepers give her the instruments. If they notice that any of the instruments have gone missing before we complete the set, it will ruin everything."

"I just hope they don't catch us," muttered Jake.

Oblivion guffawed. "They're not going to catch us any time soon. We've already won now. All we have left to do is wait."

Before long, Mrs. Sorenson's cell phone rang again. Oblivion, who was holding the ringing phone, told Jake to have Kendra pull over again, which she did. Oblivion then handed the phone over to Kendra, who answered it under Jake's control.

"Kendra," said Mr. Sorenson, "where are you?"

"In the hospital, dad," said Kendra, forcefully lying through her teeth.

"Well, we're standing in room 609 right now, and neither you nor your mother are anywhere to be found."

"What are you talking about?"

"Kendra what hospital are you even at?"

"St. Elmo's."

Mr. Sorenson sighed. "Your mother... she told me you went to Honey Valley hospital when I spoke to her!"

"What?" asked Kendra. "That's really strange."

"It's in the opposite direction from home," grumbled Mr. Sorenson. "We've wasted all this time travelling to Honey Valley! It's gonna be like a three hour drive from here."

"Are you kidding?"

"No!" gasped Mr. Sorenson. "This day has been awful! I wake up to find that my daughter has gone to the hospital in the middle of the night with appendicitis, then I end up wasting forever driving to the hospital, only to arrive at the wrong one."

"I'm sorry," said Kendra.

"I'm sorry too! I mean, I'm grateful that you're all right, but still, getting appendicitis like that..."

"Dad, I need to hang up! Mom's cell phone is about to run out of batteries, and I don't have a charger."

"I'll call you on yours."

"Mine phone's already dead. Sorry, but I gotta go now. Bye!"

"Kendra!" yelled Mr. Sorenson, when he realized that his daughter had abruptly disconnected from their call.

Kendra then handed Mrs. Sorenson's phone over to Jake.

"The less we have to talk to these people, the better," muttered Jake, as he opened up the back of the cell phone and removed the battery.

"I don't care what they try to do," said Oblivion. "Kendra's getting inside the Fairy Kingdom, and she will not fail me."

"Yeah, but if Kendra' goes back to Fablehaven, how's she going to defend herself if she gets noticed. Or what if she can't weasel her way past a particular fairy?"

"Leave that to me," said Oblivion. "For now, let's just take it easy until the proxies are ready."

"What about Kendra and her mother?"

"As a dog, we can take Mrs. Sorenson wherever we want. As for Kendra, lock her in the trunk. As long as she's wearing that bracelet, she can't do anything anyway."

"Sure," said Jake, once again taking control of Kendra.

With no ability to restrain herself, Kendra removed the key from the ignition, opened the door and stepped out of the car. She then went around to the back of the car and opened the trunk, then handed the key to Oblivion. She climbed into the trunk and laid down on her backside, as Oblivion shut the lid on top of her. It would have been pitch black, had it not been for Kendra's ability to see in the dark. There was nothing Kendra could do now. Unable to move or even cry out for help, she had no choice but to remain in the trunk until somebody came for her.

* * *

Sitting in the passenger seat of his father's SUV, Seth watched as they drove past every telephone pole along the highway. He was feeling miserable.

"Cheer up, Seth," said Mr. Sorenson. "I don't know what's gotten into your mother. She... she must've gotten frazzled when she was giving me the wrong information."

"Grandma, is there some big secret about Dad you're not telling me?" asked Seth. "Like how Fablehaven was a big secret to us until Kendra and I discovered it for ourselves?"

"Seth, I'm on the phone," exclaimed Grandma from the back seat.

"Take it easy, man," said Warren. "Why don't you play your game? It'll keep you occupied."

"I don't want to play my game now. Something is definitely wrong with all this."

"My sentiments exactly," said Warren. "First giving us information that is incredibly wrong, then telling us that their cell phones are running out of power? What's stopping them from calling back on a land line at the hospital?"

"She's not?" asked Grandma, speaking into her cell phone. "I see. No, that's okay. Thank you. Goodbye."

Grandma then hung up and put her cell phone down. She looked perturbed.

"She lied. I just saved us the trouble of driving to St. Elmo's hospital by calling ahead. The attendant gave me the same story as the one at Honey Valley."

Warren frowned. "I don't get it. Why would they lie to us like this? I mean, does it not seem odd that if Kendra had appendicitis, that she and Marla would leave without telling anyone, then accidentally give us the wrong hospital information and not make any effort to contact us?"

"You don't suppose... they were kidnapped?" asked Seth.

"I don't know how that's possible," said Grandma. "They were both at home last night, and we've extensively tested the barrier around Fablehaven. No unauthorized persons can set foot on the property."

"Well, maybe someone's forcing them to leave. Maybe they were hypnotized."

"But how?" asked Warren "And why would they go after Marla? With all due respect, she has no special abilities. If anything, they'd be more likely to go after _you_, Seth."

"Look, when we get back to Fablehaven, we'll have a discussion about all of this with everybody," said Grandma. "But for now, we're just going to go home, and not waste any more time driving out to St. Elmo's."

* * *

After stopping for lunch on the way home, Mr. Sorenson's SUV finally made it back to Fablehaven. Waiting for them as soon as they walked through the front door were Grandpa, Dale, Bright and Clover.

"I don't understand what's going on," said Grandpa, leading everyone into the living room. "You called me claiming that Kendra and Marla aren't at one hospital, and that they won't be at another."

"We never heard back from them," said Warren. "Only reasoning I can think of is that we were out of a service area on the highway. But even _that_ is unlikely."

"Look, I remember following Kendra out of the house last night," said Seth. "At least I think I do."

"You keep saying that," said Mr. Sorenson. "But that's not enough help. Besides, you still claim to have never seen your mother during all that. All we know is that we woke up this morning and they were gone, leaving behind a note."

"Could we not use the Occulus?" asked Seth.

"Kendra's the only one capable of using such a thing," said Warren. "At least, the only person we know of."

"What if you used it?" asked Clover. "Or one of us? If Kendra, who is fairykind, can pull manage it, why not another partial fairy, or even a true one?"

"Kendra is aided by the Fairy Queen," noted Bright. "Even though she is my own mother, I do not have the same connection with her as Kendra does. Kendra is fairykind. She has the potential to become fairyprime. The rest of us don't."

"It may be a risk we have to take," said Warren. "We still have the auxiliary artifacts locked up in the secret attic, so if all else fails, we can attempt to use the Occulus. As a human with fairy-like qualities of mine own, I volunteer for the job."

"Take it easy," said Grandpa. "As suspicious as all of this is, I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Then what should we do?" asked Seth. "Call every hospital in New England until we find the one that Kendra actually went to?"

"This whole hospital thing is probably a ruse. What I don't understand is what could've possessed the two of them to take off like this."

"If they did make tracks, why did they even bother with the note?" asked Seth.

"To keep us distracted, no doubt. How are we ever going to find them if using the Occulus is too risky?"

Seth's face suddenly lit up. "What if we detect Kendra? Like with our powers?"

Bright sighed. "It's not that easy. "We'd have to be within her vicinity in order for that to work."

"It worked for me. Back when all of us got captured by Matthew and Hespera, and I got turned into a dragon and separated. I was able to use my shadow charmer abilities to detect Kendra. Course, I did it on top of the Empire State building, but that was in a congested city. Shouldn't be too hard in a rural area like we're in."

"Two problems," said Grandma. "First of all, you at least knew that your target was in the area in Manhattan. Second, this _rural area_ is a lot larger than New York City."

"Look, if my idea's too convoluted, why don't we just solve our problem with the Omega Star."

"The Omega Star is not a toy," said Bright. "And if you think I'm being too strict, wait until you hear what my mother has to say. But, since it concerns Kendra and her family, she might be willing to make an exception. However, we should probably try to find Kendra on our own before resorting to drastic measures."

"Look, my wife and daughter are out there, doing a wonderful job of avoiding us," said Mr. Sorenson. "How long do these shenanigans have to go on for before the Fairy Queen gives in and allows use of the Omega Star?"

"I'll return to the Fairy Kingdom and speak to my mother," said Bright. "Hopefully, she'll understand our predicament and allow use of the Omega Star for this situation."

Afterwards, Seth and Warren ventured outside and out into the backyard. Near the backyard was the cave that Raxtus and his family live in. Once they entered, they were greeted by Raxtus and Geminus, whom they relayed their experience to.

"That really is odd," said Geminus, who was comforting Vanessa in her arms.

"I don't like it one bit," said Raxtus.

"That's why we need your help," said Warren. "You dragons can fly around very efficiently. If you do that, then Seth can use his power to try and detect Kendra why you take him around the countryside.

"But nobody knows where to look," said Geminus. "It's too much trouble."

"Look, it's the only way we can think of," said Seth. "Not without resorting to the Omega Star, which does seem a bit drastic."

"Raxtus sighed. "I'll do it. For Kendra."

"But not for too long," added Geminus. "If the Omega Star really is the best solution, it would be better to use it rather than run around endlessly looking for Kendra the hard way."

"Seth, last time you used me to search for somebody you couldn't find on your own..."

Seth his arms in front of him. "You know I'm still really sorry. I was just trying to help a fellow dragon."

Geminus sighed. "He's got a point. Sort of."

"Yeah..." added Raxtus. "So, are we just going to look around blindly?"

"Pretty well," said Warren. "I honestly don't expect to find anything, but it's better than not trying at all."

"Just let us leave Vanessa in Dale's care," said Geminus. "Then we can get going."

Within a few minutes, Seth and Warren were riding upon the backs of Raxtus and Geminus respectively. The two dragon both spread their wings and began to lift themselves off of the ground.

As they flow over the countryside for miles and miles, Seth harnessed all of his attention on sensing light energy. Blocking out the energy emitted by his companions, Seth tried his hardest to feel for distant traces of light, but found nothing.

The dragons weren't flying anywhere in particular, but were at least making an effort to not double back over already explored areas. They weren't flying at their fastest either.

Although it didn't feel like they had been at it too long, they all noticed that the sun was starting to set. Had they really been searching all afternoon? One thing was for sure. Seth was extremely tired. Looking at his watch, Seth could see that it was roughly six o'clock.

The dragons then flew back to Fablehaven, where Seth and Warren dismounted them and entered the house. They wasted no time in reporting their lack of success to the rest of their family.

Dinner was just about ready to be served, so everybody at home opted to sit down at the dining room table. Grandma had prepared broiled chicken, but despite his appetite, Seth just wasn't in the mood to eat. He was too upset.

"So nobody knows anything about Kendra and Marla's whereabouts?" asked Warren.

Grandpa sighed and shook his head. "No. We're going to appeal to the fairies tomorrow and see what we can do about using the Omega Star. It's late enough as it is, and it's best if we deal with the fairies while we're all feeling refreshed.

Seth barely ate anything throughout the entire meal. One it was finished he went up to his bedroom and changed into his pyjamas. It was only a few minutes after seven, but Seth didn't care. He simply was not in the mood to do anything. The disappearance of his mother and sister was really bothering him.

After shutting off the light and closing the curtain, Seth lay down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Just what had happened to Kendra and his mother? As exhausted as he was, Seth just continued laying on his bed, too overstimulated to even fall asleep.


	6. Infiltration

**Chapter 6: Infiltration**

For the next few hours, Kendra had been confined to the interior of the trunk of Jake's sedan. Despite her ability to see in the dark, there really wasn't much of anything for her to look at, especially since she couldn't so much as turn her head and glance at her surroundings.

At some point, Kendra could hear some traffic. Suddenly, the car began to tilt backwards several degrees, prompting Kendra to slide into the back of the trunk. Her face was now pressing against the backside, and something as simple as breathing had become slightly difficult.

Were they driving uphill? It seemed improbable, as the car essentially remained in the same sloped position for at least an hour. Her body slid around whenever the car turned, but it did nothing to explain its angled position.

After a while, the car came to a complete stop and tilted back down to its proper position. Although she was on a flat surface again, Kendra was in pain from the travelling, and was also fairly hungry. She then heard Oblivion talking to an unknown man, followed by a large vehicle driving away.

A minute later, the trunk sprung open. Kendra could feel Jake assuming control of her body again, forcing her to climb out. It was now nighttime. The car was on a dirt road in a forest, one that felt all too familiar to Kendra.

"Enjoy your trip?" asked Oblivion. "We saved you the trouble of driving by paying a tow truck to bring us here. You should be very thankful."

"Also, it's a lot easier than driving myself by controlling you," noted Jake.

Oblivion then opened up the back seat of the car. She then emerged, holding Mrs. Sorenson's leash in one hand, and a cloth bag in the other.

"Here are the phony instruments," said Oblivion, jostling the bag that she was holding with one hand.

"Now we just gotta send Kendra inside and send her off to the Fairy Kingdom," said Jake. "But what do we do if someone in there who's not a fairy notices Kendra?

"The fewer people who suspect anything, the better. And while I am unable to enter the preserve, there's no reason why my power cannot."

"What'd you mean?" asked Jake.

Oblivion huffed. "The thought occurred to me earlier. Had you not been too preoccupied playing that Angry Birds thing the whole time, you would've remembered that I had transferred all of my magical power into this wand while we were being towed."

As she spoke, Oblivion removed a silver rod from the bag containing the instruments. "I asked the welder to make me a rod as well. This _wand_ was just something that the welder had lying around. He even let me have it for free."

"What are we, I mean, Kendra, supposed to do with it?" asked Jake. "Even if _you're_ controlling Kendra, how can you channel your thoughts through the wand."

"I've implemented a few basic commands into the wand. I just need Kendra to wave it a certain way to use them. However, as long as I'm holding the wand directly, I can use it to its full potential. Observe."

Oblivion swirled the wand around in her hand, aiming it at Kendra. Sparkles shot out of the wand and magically wrapped themselves around her body.

Feeling feint, Kendra could feel the structure of her body starting to alter drastically and rapidly. Her hands and feet began to feel like stubs, and her torso started to stretch. Even if she were in control of her body, Kendra felt as though there was nothing she could do about this transformation. She proceeded to fall down onto her hands, which were now technically hooves. Her arms and legs stretched themselves slightly, and she could feel her ears growing, along with a snout and a small tail.

"Look at yourself, Kendra," said Oblivion, using her wand to create a floating mirror in front of Kendra. Gazing into the mirror, Kendra could see that she had been transformed into a moose.

She couldn't believe it. While this sort of magic was nothing new to her, she never thought that Oblivion would transform her into a moose of all things.

"It's not a magical creature, but a moose should be able to slip into Fablehaven without getting harmed or drawing too much attention," said Oblivion. "She's also large enough to transport the wand and instruments without difficulty."

Oblivion placed the wand back in the bag. "This transformation is only temporary. Jake, you'll want to get Kendra to the fairy shrine ASAP. Once she's human again, Kendra can use the wand to enter the Fairy Kingdom. For now, have her grab the bag with her mouth."

Kendra accepted the bag from Oblivion by clenching it with her teeth. Being a moose, her body was strong enough to support the weight of its contents."

"We could just hang the bag from her antlers," said Jake, "if you had remembered to actually give her those."

"Only male moose have antlers, stupid," said Oblivion. "Just as well, though. She'll be less noticeable without them anyway. Now, send Kendra into Fablehaven and over to the fairy shrine.

"All right," said Jake, now prompting Kendra to start walking off of the main road and into the thicket. It felt very peculiar to be walking as a quadruped, but that sensation was the least of her worries. She simply could not regain control of her body regardless of how hard she tried. A least she could move rapidly as a moose.

Soon she approached the iron fence that bordered around the entire perimeter of the Fablehaven preserve. Normally, the preserve's distractor spell would repel any unauthorized beings from even getting close, but naturally, Kendra was unaffected.

Now, the fence itself was several feet high. But being a moose, Kendra ran over towards the fence and leaped over it entirely as though it were a hurdle. Her hooves hit the ground on the other side, and she almost tumbled over due to the impact, as the rugged terrain nearly caused her to lose her footing.

As she began to gallop through the preserve, Kendra kept trying to think of ways to stop herself. She thought that maybe if she concentrated hard enough, she could open her mouth, just so that the bag she was carrying might drop out. But alas, her attempt was futile.

Kendra never really got to see much of the preserve at nighttime, but given the diurnal habits of most of the creatures, combined with their restricted areas, there wasn't all that much to see at this time. As a moose, Kendra was probably big enough to evade essentially all of the unconfined predatory creatures.

Kendra trudged through the forest for several miles, until she located the naiad's pond. She then walked over to the base of the rainbow bridge, where she slowly placed one of her hooves on top of it. As she did not pass through it, Kendra another hoof down and proceeded to cross the bridge to the island of the fairy shrine.

After waiting around next to the statue for a minute or so, Kendra could feel her body starting to transform. She dropped the bag from her mouth, as her body quickly returned itself to her human form. Once she was fully human, in control of her hands and arms, Kendra reached into the bag and pulled out the wand. Facing the statue, she waved it around in a circular motion, The statue began to glow vibrantly, just as though an actual fairy had opened the portal herself.

Kendra glanced around from side to side, as she slid the wand back into the bag, then placed her free hand onto the statue. Just like before, her contact with the statue hurled her into the Fairy Kingdom, where she found herself at the shrine she had been sent to the previous night.

Since passing through to the Fairy Kingdom, the whole experience began to feel like déjà vu. Unable to control herself, Kendra made her way through the garden, heading towards the village where the castle lay.

Once again, she approached the front gate of the castle, where the same teal-haired fairy guard who had been on patrol the previous night was on duty again.

"So, you have returned," said the guard. "

"I take it you did nothing about what happened between us last night?" asked Kendra. "As per my request."

The guard sighed. "You are correct."

"Good. Now once again, in the name of the Fairy Queen, let me pass and pretend I was never here."

"As you wish," said the guard reluctantly.

Kendra passed through the gate and walked up to the front door of the castle. She then reached into the bag and pulled out the crystal key she had been given by the same guard on her last visit. Kendra had almost forgotten she even had the key, although it wasn't like she had much of an chance to admire it.

Holding the key up against the door, the door slid open, granting Kendra access to the main castle. This time, however, Kendra ventured in a direction different than the one she had gone previously. Now she remembered, the castle itself was also home to one of the five instruments. And if Oblivion knew where they all were, she was probably the one in control of Kendra, and was no doubt sending her on a direct path to all of them.

Kendra made her way through the castle, then used her key to pass through a particular door, behind which was a spiral staircase leading upwards. She had been here before, and did not like where this was going so far. Once she reached the top of the staircase, Kendra opened up another door and entered the next room.

In the center of the room was a pedestal, atop of which lay the Accelerizer. Kendra walked up to the Accelerizer, and gazed at it intensely. Its blue aura shimmered brilliantly in the moonlight. Kendra knew that it was impossible to remove on her own, and figured that Oblivion was also aware of that.

Looking around the room, Kendra spotted a king-sized bed against the far wall. She walked over to the bed and saw Brillia, sleeping soundlessly.

Kendra placed her hands upon Brillia's shoulder, and proceeded to shake her body furiously. After a few seconds, the fairy angel began groaning, prompting Kendra to remove her hands.

"What?" moaned Brillia, slowly opening her eyes to see Kendra standing by her bedside. "K-K-Kendra? What are you doing here?"

"In the name of the Fairy Queen, I order you to obey my every command."

"I will," answered Brillia, as she sat up.

"Good. Now promise me you will not interfere with what I'm doing or leave me."

"I promise."

"All right, then. Present the Accelerizer to me."

Even without the power of the Accelerizer, it felt as through time was standing still. As horrendous as this whole experience had been, Kendra knew chaos was imminent should she acquire all five instruments of eternal power. If the remaining four would prove to be this simple, it was probably inevitable.

"No," said Brillia.

Kendra would've dropped her jaw at this point if she could. "Perhaps you misheard me. In the name of the Fairy Queen, I command you to give me the Accelerizer."

"I will not."

Kendra snarled fiercely. "**Why? Not?**"

"That is one command from you I do not have to follow. Only the Fairy Queen has the authority to make me."

"Look, Fablehaven is in a lot of trouble. It's an emergency. So I command you to give me the Accelerizer."

"No, Kendra."

"Well then, you leave me no choice," said Kendra. "If I am unable to have the instruments of eternal power, then you fairies will not be able to use them either. I order you to transport both of us to Bravia's chamber."

"Something is wrong with you," said Brillia, as she waved her arms around in the air, generating a small cloud of sparkles that whisked both of them away.

Kendra and Brillia appeared in a chamber similar in appearance to the one they had just been in. This room also had a pedestal in the middle, only this one had the Drakesoul resting upon it. Beyond the pedestal was a bed, where a fairy, undoubtedly Bravia, was sleeping.

Brillia suddenly dashed over to Bravia's bedside and used her magic to send her sister flying out of bed, nearly crashing into the ceiling.

"Ow!" moaned Bravia, rubbing her head from the impact. She appeared to still be half-asleep.

"Quick!" exclaimed Brillia. "Get mother!"

"What?" asked Bravia. "Kendra, is that you?"

"Don't listen to her," said Kendra. "I command you in the name of the Fairy Queen. And Brillia, I order you to never defy me again."

"Kendra, what's going on?" asked Bravia, as she walked up to Kendra and her sister.

"Bravia, will you give me the Drakesoul?" asked Kendra.

"I will not," said Bravia. "Brillia, what in the world is going on here?"

"I don't have time for this," said Kendra. "Bravia, I command you to remain perfectly still."

Kendra removed her wand from her bag, aimed it at Bravia, and waved it around in a triangular motion. A dark energy shot out of the wand and encased itself around Bravia. It looked all too familiar to Kendra. She then remembered seeing Brillia encased in the same type of dark energy during Oblivion's previous takeover. If that was the case, there was seemingly no way for the fairies to counter it.

"Kendra?" gasped Brillia. "What did you do to her? What's wrong with you?"

"No more questions," said Kendra. "Now, I command you transport me to Brook's chamber. That is an order I am making in the name of the Fairy Queen and I expect you to follow it."

"As you wish," said Brillia reluctantly, as she used her magic again. The two of them were then magically transported to a third chamber. In the center of this chamber was a pedestal housing the Essence of Immunity, as well as a bed that Brook was sleeping in.

"Wait here this time," said Kendra, as she walked up to the bedside. Waving her wand around in a triangular motion like before, she froze Brook within a barrier just like she had done to Bravia.

"Kendra, will you please stop?" asked Brillia worriedly.

"I thought I told you to keep quiet," said Kendra. "I command you in the name of the Fairy Queen to not speak unless I give you permission."

Brillia nodded in response.

"Good. Now, I command you to take me to Tiara's chamber next."

Brillia once again used her magic to transport the two of them to the next chamber. Once again, there was an instrument on a pedestal, in the case the Sizeshifter, and Tiara, who was sleeping in her bed. Kendra wasted no time in jaunting over to Tiara's bedside and freezing the fairy angel.

"Next stop. I command you to transport me to Opal's chamber."

Brillia then whisked herself and Kendra to yet another chamber, which housed both Opal and the Disapirit. As with the previous fairies, Kendra used her wand to freeze Opal while she slept.

"Four down, one to go. You, Brillia. I command you to transport me to the fairy shrine that connects to Fablehaven. Don't worry if this is getting redundant, this is our last stop."

Brillia then used her magic to transport them outside of the castle, next to the fairy shrine in the garden that Kendra had arrive in the Fairy Kingdom at.

"Thanks for your help," said Kendra rudely. She then used her wand to freeze Brillia on the spot as she did with the other four fairy angels. Brillia just stood there, completely motionless.

Next, Kendra used her wand to activate the fairy shrine's portal. Once the statue was glowing, Kendra placed her hand on it. She was then hurled through the dimensional barrier and wound up back on the island of the fairy shrine at Fablehaven.

Now that she was back in her own world, Kendra raised the wand above her head and whirled it around in the air. She suddenly felt herself fade away, only to reappear right in front of where Oblivion was standing. In spite of everything she had been through, the shock of appearing before Oblivion without warning still startled her severely.

"All right, she made it," said Oblivion, who proceeded to grab the wand out of Kendra's hand. Clenching it firmly in both of her hands, Oblivion let the wand's power surge back into her body.

"Now what do we do?" asked Jake. "Your little plan didn't exactly work out, now, did it We wasted enough time getting those phony instruments to begin with."

"I thought for sure that the keepers would obey Kendra's request to present her with the instruments. But I'm not too surprised that the Fairy Queen would've implemented a safeguard around that."

"Yeah, but we still don't have the instruments."

"I'll devise another plan. As long as I have Kendra under my control, I can send her in and out of Fablehaven any time I please. And with the keepers under lock-down, nobody can access their instruments to either rescue Kendra and her mother, or meddle in our plans."

"How are we going to get out of here?" asked Jake. "I don't think you'll want to hire another tow truck."

"As long as Kendra's out and about, you can use her to drive to our next destination. It won't be far, and since it's night, it's unlikely we'll attract much attention. If somebody _does_ give us trouble, I'll take care of them."

"Whatever," said Jake. "Give me control of Kendra and we'll get going.

Soon everyone got seated in the car, with Kendra sitting down in the driver's seat. She then started the ignition and was soon driving off down the road, away from Fablehaven.

Kendra drove onto the highway and proceeded for roughly half an hour, until she pulled over to a side road. She then turned onto a long driveway leading to a large property, stopping in front of a house.

Kendra waited in the car while Jake and Oblivion got out with Mrs. Sorenson and walked over to the house. A few minutes later, they took control of Kendra to bring her over to the entrance of the house.

"I didn't think anyone was home," said Oblivion, opening the front door. "Not that I couldn't have dealt with them.

Kendra followed Oblivion and Jake through the house and into the basement, where they directed her and Mrs. Sorenson into a well-furnished room that was being used as a den, where there were several chairs, a couch, bookcases filled with DVDs and a widescreen television in a cabinet.

"You got lucky this time," said Oblivion. "Normally I'd just lock you in some closet, but I've no need to torment you right now."

Oblivion then reached for Kendra's wrist and removed the bracelet that she was wearing. Finally, Kendra was able to move and think for herself.

"Oblivion," said Kendra, finally in control of her body again. "Why.. why are you doing this?"

"I think you know why," said Oblivion. "Now listen. You are to remain in this room until further notice. The doors and windows will be sealed magically, so you cannot escape. And there are no neighbours in the vicinity, so yelling won't do you any good. I suggest you go to sleep. We'll feed you in the morning."

Oblivion shut the door behind herself and Jake, and it made a clicking noise. If Oblivion was to be believed, then Kendra and her mother were undoubtedly trapped.


	7. Searching

**Chapter 7: Searching**

Many hours later, Kendra awoke laying down on the couch. Feeling extremely groggy, the events of the previous night had pushed mind and body to the limit.

It was fairly unnerving for Kendra to wake up and still be in control of her own body. The fact that she was not tied up or being held captive in some sort of cell or closet almost gave her the impression that what she had been through was just a horrible nightmare.

Sitting up and rising from the couch, she unintentionally knocked the small dog who had been sleeping on her lap onto the couch. Of course, this dog was none other than her mother. Alas, the events of the previous day did in fact happen.

"Mom?" asked Kendra, bending over to comfort the dog, who had woken up due to sliding off of Kendra's body.

The chihuahua whimpered in response, as Kendra stroked her head. "How could they do this to you? Oh, Mom! We need to stop Oblivion! Or at least escape from here with our lives!"

Mrs. Sorenson attempted to speak, but only let out some small barks.

"Mom, I wish I could understand dog like I do with other languages."

Kendra walked over to the door and jiggled the knob, but not only was it locked, but the door itself felt completely immobile, rather than jostling in the door frame.

"It really is sealed," said Kendra. As she turned around she spotted a basement window along the far wall of the room. Naturally, she scurried over to the window and attempted to slide it open, but it wouldn't budge, even after fiddling with the latch.

"Great. Oblivion's seal won't let me this window open at all." Kendra then attempted to lift up the coffee table in the center of the room. "It may be too big for the window, but maybe I can smash through the glass with a table leg."

Lifting up the table by holding it against her body the long way, Kendra made an effort to haul it over towards the window. Although it was heavy, Kendra managed to lift one leg of the table up against the window, and proceeded to slam against the glass.

Kendra made several attempts to crash the leg of the table through the window, but failed each time.

"What are you doing, young lady?" asked Oblivion sternly.

Kendra placed the table down, then turned around and saw Oblivion standing in the doorway.

"Ah-ah-Oblivion?"

"Who'd you think it was?" she asked. "And just what were you doing with that table?"

"I was..."

"Trying to break out of here with it?" scoffed Oblivion. "Please. I saw what you were doing. Not that it would do you any good."

"Oblivion, how can you do this to us?" huffed Kendra, approaching the dark fairy. "How can you be so cruel and callous?"

"I'm not like those other fairies. I'm more _ambitious_. More _intelligent_. More _powerful_. I'm not some stupid drone of the Fairy Queen. I take orders from no one."

"Look, can you please turn my mother back to normal? She doesn't deserve to be a dog. Without her, I'd have never been born, and you'd never increased your power without me."

"This is war," said Oblivion. "I owe neither you or your mother no favors whatsoever."

"That's your problem," said Kendra. "You're mean, but you have no motive behind your actions. It's like you're bad just for the sake of it."

"Kendra if it were up to some goody two-shoes, I would in fact be another nameless fairy with no real goals or aspirations. But what's the point of that? If fairies were more like myself, we'd have conquered the human word eons ago."

Kendra said nothing in response. She was too disgusted with what Oblivion had just told her.

"Look, were going to leave the two of you alone in this basement today, but your recent behaviour with that table proves that you require more supervision. Come with me."

Kendra and Mrs. Sorenson followed Oblivion out of the room and through the basement up to the first floor.

"We found some food in the kitchen," said Jake, who was standing on the kitchen table. "Kendra you can have some cold Pop-Tarts. And no, we're not letting you heat them up. Takes too long."

Jake tossed a foil package containing two strawberry pastries at Kendra, who caught it in her hands.

"Kendra's mommy can have some turkey slices."

Jake then tossed an open package of lunch meat onto the floor. Mrs. Sorenson then stuck her snout into the package and began chomping away at the meat inside. Kendra pitied her mother for what she was going through, then teared open her package of Pop-Tarts. Kendra wasn't a huge fan of processed food, but she was extremely hungry and was willing to eat whatever she could at this point.

"Where are we going, anyway?" asked Kendra, after finishing her second Pop-Tart.

"New York City," said Oblivion. "Hoping to make a few business deals."

"Business deals?" asked Kendra nervously.

"No more questions," said Oblivion. "Now, Kendra we're going to have to let Jake take control of you so we can drive to the city."

Oblivion then produced a bracelet from her pocket. "Put this on."

"No!" shrieked Kendra, freaking out at the mere sight of the item that had caused her so much recent grief."

"You will," said Oblivion, as she used her magic to direct the bracelet through the air towards Kendra, while Mrs. Sorenson barked furiously. Kendra cupped her wrists together to keep the bracelet from wrapping itself around her, but Oblivion just used her magic to make Kendra stretch out her right arm, then quickly wrapped the bracelet around her wrist. Once again, she had lost all control of her body.

"All right, Jake," said Oblivion. "Get Kendra and her mother into the car. We're off to the city."

* * *

Back at Fablehaven, Seth was sitting at the dining room table, eating an omelet for breakfast with the rest of his family sans Kendra and their mother.

"Still no word on Kendra or Marla?" asked Dale, as he sprinkled some pepper onto his eggs.

"I'm afraid not," said Grandpa. "We may have to resort to using the Occulus, as dangerous as it seems."

As they continued eating, they were soon interrupted by a combination of the doorbell ringing repeatedly and someone pounding on the front door.

"My goodness," said Grandma, getting out of her seat, "who could it be?"

The pounding and ringing continued as Grandma made her way through the house and until the she opened the front door. Seth heard several voices greeting Grandma in a hurry, while Grandma uttered the name "Bracken" at one point.

Soon Grandma entered the dining room with Bracken, Bright, Clover and... the Fairy Queen. All the fairies were wearing very nervous looks on their faces.

"We have terrible news," said Bracken.

"Is this about Kendra and my mom being gone?" asked Seth. "We're way ahead of you on that."

"It's worse than that," noted The Fairy Queen. "The five keepers have been immobilized. And worse, Oblivion's statue is missing."

"Bracken told us as soon as he and my mother got here," said Bright.

"Immobilized?" asked Warren. "Like when Oblivion did so when she tried to get the instruments a few months ago?"

"Exactly like that," said Bracken. "Combine that with the disappearing statue, along with Kendra and her mother, and its safe to assume that Oblivion is back."

"Where are they?" asked Seth.

"We don't know," answered the Fairy Queen. "How Oblivion got free in the first place is currently a mystery."

"This all happened last night?" asked Grandma.

"Correct," replied Bracken.

"Well, something really peculiar started with Kendra and Marla yesterday morning."

Grandma went on to tell the fairies about how Kendra and Mrs. Sorenson had gone to the hospital, then repeatedly misdirected them to the wrong hospital, only to cut off their phone connection to them.

"So this all happened _before_ last night?" asked Bracken.

"Even so, I seem to remember Kendra skipping out of the house the previous night," said Seth. "Clover and Bright were there, but that's all I can recall. But nobody believes me, not even Bright and Clover."

"Is any of this true, girls?" asked the Fairy Queen.

"It is," said Bright admittedly, receiving gasps from the others. "Kendra ordered us in your name to not tell anybody about what happened."

"We're so sorry," said Clover. "We had to oblige, despite the urge not to."

"Bright, Clover," said the Fairy Queen, "I order you to disregard anything Kendra may have said to you from the previous night. And tell us in your own words what happened."

"Well, Kendra came out of the house in the middle of the night," began Clover. "Seth followed her to the naiad's pond."

"Then she ordered me to let her into the Fairy Kingdom," said Bright.

"And she made me put Seth to sleep and return him to his room, in hope that he would forget the whole thing," added Clover.

"She also made us vow not to tell anyone. We wanted to do something, but we couldn't."

The Fairy Queen sighed. "I will not penalize you for your actions. But Kendra entering the Fairy Kingdom... Why would she rebel like this?"

"Doesn't sound like Kendra to me," said Warren, putting his arm around Clover to comfort her. "But I can't fathom what _would_ make her do such a thing."

"The whole thing is a mystery," said Grandpa. "Any why is Marla involved as well? Anyway, I propose that we just use the Occulus already to seek out where Kendra is, regardless of the risk."

"It's in the vault," said Grandma. "I'll go and get it right now."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kendra had driven the car down the highway for many miles, before ultimately arriving in New York City. As if being controlled by somebody else while you drove a car wasn't bad enough, being a huge metropolis filled with traffic was worse.

Kendra soon pulled into a large parking garage somewhere in Manhattan. After searching several levels full of parked up cars, she eventually pulled into a vacant spot and stopped.

Oblivion then stepped out of the car, and looked at herself in the rear view mirror by Kendra.

"I really don't look very presentable in this dress," she said. She then snapped her finger, and her dress transformed into a woman's black business outfit.

"I'm also getting tired of directing you around," she said, glaring at Kendra. She then used her magic to conjure up a suitcase. Next she used her magic on Kendra. Kendra immediately shrunk down to a size of only a few inches, and was suddenly levitated out the door and into the suitcase, her mother, who was still a dog, but had also been reduced in size, followed her into the suitcase, which was then snapped shut. Although she could see what was going on, there wasn't much

As she was still wearing the bracelet, Kendra was unable to move herself, as the briefcase swayed back and forth due to Oblivion's walking. Her mother then darted over towards Kendra, and began feeling around Kendra's body with her paws. She then grabbed the bracelet that was on Kendra's wrist with her claw and snapped it off her arm.

"Mom," said Kendra, now in control of her body, as she hugged the dog. "Thank you!"

Mrs. Sorenson nuzzled Kendra with her nose.

"I don't know if we can get out of here," said Kendra. "I'm too weak to break through the suitcase at this size, and it can probably only be opened from the outside. But thank you for freeing me. At least I can be in control of myself."

* * *

Back at Fablehaven, everyone who was there had gathered in the living room. Grandpa then placed the Occulus down upon the coffee table for everybody to see.

"Well, here it is," said Grandpa, backing away from the table.

"Who should try it?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

Kendra's always been aided by fairies in the past, but that was due to her connection to us. If someone else uses it, I can't guarantee we'll able to help them."

"Why can't one of the fairies use it?" asked Grandma.

"We don't know if its safe or not," replied Bracken. "It was created with humans in mind, so it might be unstable if a non-human attempts to use it. Or it may be perfectly safe. We don't actually know."

"I could try it," said Warren. "I'm part fairy now anyway."

"Again, that doesn't mean it's safe for you either," noted Bright.

"Why don't I try it?" asked Seth. Everyone stared at him blankly. "Look, if you think the dark, manipulative forces of the Occulus are a hazard to a shadow charmer like myself, then by all means raise your hand."

"But, what if it doesn't work right?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "What if you _do_ lose control? The fairies can't help you like they could with Kendra."

"Any of us would be taking a risk using the Occulus. At least I'm not one to fall victim to a dark influence. I want my mom and sister back just as much as everyone else here. Let me try it."

Grandpa sighed. "Okay, then. But be extremely careful. I'd hate to lose another grandchild so suddenly."

Seth picked up the Occulus from the coffee table, sat back in his seat, and clenched it firmly in his hand. Although he had never attempted to use it before, he had an idea of how it worked based on what Kendra had told him in the past.

As he closed his eyes, Seth cut right to the chase and immediately envisioned Kendra. He allowed his mind to be drawn in by the power of the Occulus. He could feel a shift in his surroundings, but once the shift ended, Seth still felt as though he were in a room of complete darkness. There was nothing to be seen. Was the Occulus even working?

Seth screamed as he dropped the Occulus from his hands and opened his eyes. Everyone else in the room gazed at him worriedly.

"It's okay," gasped Seth. "I'm all right. I tried to focus on Kendra, but found nothing but darkness."

"Thank god," said Mr. Sorenson. "But I don't know if it's safe for you to use this Occulus thing."

"I need to try again."

"It's possible you found Kendra," said Warren. "But maybe she's just in a dark room or something. Try again, but this time, try to zoom out after you spot her."

"Okay," said Seth, once again picking up the Occulus and focusing on his sister for a second time.

Once again, Seth could feel his vision shifting into a room of complete darkness. He then thought of backing away from the darkness, and sure enough, Seth found himself looking at a briefcase laying on a desk. Something was amiss. Was Kendra actually inside the briefcase?

Seth had to remind himself that if Oblivion was behind Kendra's disappearance, then her being confined to a suitcase wasn't impossible, but it didn't seem like Oblivion's style. Focusing on Kendra again, he unconsciously zoomed into the suitcase, but was unable to see anything.

Curious, Seth tried to focus on his mother, but nothing changed. Perhaps she was in the suitcase with Kendra? He backed out again to make sure, then focused on his mother. Nothing changed. He tried as hard as he could, but it seemed like it was impossible to locate his mother. Where in the world was she?

Seth began to look around the room, which appeared to be a hotel room of sorts. Lying on a queen-sized bed was Oblivion, who was speaking on a cell phone, surrounded by a pen and notepad. He then zoomed out of the room, and could see that the room was in a high-rise somewhere in a large city. Zooming out even further, Seth was able to recognize the neighborhood from above. It was Manhattan.

"I don't believe it," said Seth. "I don't know if I found Kendra, but I did find Oblivion."

The Fairy Queen crossed her arms. "I don't understand. I'm glad you were able to find Oblivion, but where is Kendra?"

"Look, I tried to search for Kendra, but the only clue I got was a suitcase in some hotel room. I couldn't see inside, it was too dark. But focusing on Kendra led me to it. Not only that, but I can't find my mom despite any effort I make."

"Quick," said Warren. "Seth, you need to pinpoint where in Manhattan this hotel is. Try to find its geographical location. Or better yet, see if you can find the name of it, along with the room Oblivion is in."

Seth used the Occulus to focus on the suitcase until it came into view. From there, he zoomed out through the front door of the hotel room, until he was looking at it from across the hall. Now he could read the room number that had been posted to the door in sleek metal digits.

He then proceeded to shift his view back through the room, and moved out the window, so that he appeared to be floating between two rows of high-rise buildings. He allowed his view to descend down to street level. Seth then shifted his focus towards the entrance of the hotel, and saw the name of it written across the front doors in glowing white lights.

"I found it!" said Seth, as he released the Occulus from his grasp. "I know where Oblivion is staying!"

"Good," said Warren, who had already booted up a laptop, which he had set up on the coffee table. "Tell me."

Seth told Warren the name of the hotel, and Warren proceeded to search for it on Google.

"Got it," said Warren. "And since we know which room Oblivion is staying in, we don't have to pull any stunts at the front desk. Now, let's go pay Oblivion a little surprise visit!"


	8. On a Mission

**Chapter 8: On a Mission**

"Warren," said the Fairy Queen. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don't know if we should be so reckless in regards to rescuing Kendra."

"What exactly do you mean?" asked Bright.

"Oblivion is a very powerful fairy. She could easily overpower any of you."

"But we'll have the drop on her," noted Clover. "She's got no idea we're coming at all."

"It took Kendra's fairyprime ability to vanquish Oblivion the last time. If's Kendra's even in that suitcase, she's in no condition to become fairyprime."

"What are you getting at?" asked Grandpa.

"I suggest for whomever goes to keep the mission quick and simple."

"You mean, enter the room, swipe the suitcase, and scram?" asked Seth.

"Well, that would be effective, I suppose," said the Fairy Queen. "But I advise against too many fairy recruits going on this mission. If Oblivion was able to immobilize the five keepers the way she did, think of what she could do to the rest of you."

"I'm going," said Bracken. "I want to help her."

"Me too," chimed in Bright. "I was Kendra's initial fairy guardian!"

"No, Bright," said the Fairy Queen. "Bracken has powers of his own, and I'd hate for something to happen to all my children. Clover, you stay here as well."

"Bracken's going, I'm going," said Warren.

"Me too," added Seth. "My powers over darkness might be just the thing we need to confront a fairy. Even if she is a dark one."

"Please be careful, Seth," said Mr. Sorenson, giving his son a hug.

"So the team will consist of myself, Seth and Bracken," said Warren.

"I'll go grab your gear," said Dale. "Just in case."

"So how are we going to get there?" asked Bracken. Fly in on Raxtus and Geminus?"

"Nah," said Warren, "we've been to New York before. We can just travel there using the Translocator. Besides, dragons are out of place in a hotel anyway, and the Fairy Queen wants us to keep our numbers down."

A few minutes later, Seth, Warren and Bracken were wearing their adventuring attire. Warren was wearing a knapsack on his back, underneath which was a hidden scabbard holding his sword. Seth had also been given a dagger, which was concealed in his pocket.

"We've got the Occulus," said Warren. "Now we've just got to find a place in New York City that we can travel to without being seen. "Man, I've got so many ideas flying into my head. There's Trask's apartment, but it's nowhere near the hotel."

"I know of a rooftop in Manhattan," said Seth. "It was back from the time when I was turned into a dragon."

Bracken pondered for a moment. "Sure, sounds good to me!"

Warren then handed the Translocator to Seth. "Okay, then. Lead us to it, Seth."

"Good luck," said Grandma.

"You need to succeed," added Mr. Sorenson.

Seth nodded and then twisted the the two ends of the Translocator, making sure to keep holding it by its center section. Warren and Bracken each grasped one end, and waited for Seth to make his move.

Seth proceeded to think about the rooftop he had been on that one night when he had transformed into a dragon. Although it had been pouring then, Seth had to focus on the location itself, rather than the rain he had experienced when he was there. He then proceeded to grip the center of the Translocator with his hand, and allowed himself to be whisked away by it.

When Seth opened his eyes, he discovered that he was now standing on that very same rooftop once again, although this time, it was now a sunny morning, albeit a cold one due to the winter atmosphere.

"I think I know where we are," said Warren, looking something up on his phone. "Okay, the hotel is only a couple of blocks in... _that_ direction."

Warren pointed in one direction, then led Seth and Bracken to the stairwell leading to the lower floors. Seth recalled entering this same stairwell, but not staying in it for very long on his previous visit. The group barrelled their way down the stairs, not stopping until they reached the ground floor. From there, they passed through a door and into an alleyway. They then stepped out of the alleyway and emerged onto the sidewalk of a busy street.

"Come on," said Warren, leading Seth and Bracken through a large crowd of pedestrians.

They went down several blocks of busy sidewalks, and zigzagged their way across several intersections, crossing at every green light, before they finally stopped in front of the hotel that Seth had seen in his dream.

"This is it," said Seth, as he entered the hotel with Bracken and Warren.

"Welcome," said a doorman, who smiled as the group passed into the hotel lobby. The hotel itself was actually quite exquisite, decorated with paintings, vases, murals and other pieces of art.

Once they crossed the hallway, Warren found his way into a corridor where several elevators were located, then pushed the call button, prompting one of the doors to slide open, revealing a vacant car. The trio boarded it.

"It was room 2411," said Seth, pushing the button for the twenty-fourth floor. "I'm positive."

After a moment, the doors slid shut, but the elevator didn't move.

"Great," muttered Warren, as he eyed the number board. "This elevator requires a keycard to reach the upper floors. You know what, I got a better idea."

Warren then flew up to the ceiling of the elevator and popped open the emergency hatch. "We'll just fly up ourselves."

Bracken hugged his arms around Seth. "Going up," he said as he and Seth rose out through the emergency hatch and into the elevator shaft. They continued up through the elevator shaft for at least twenty floors, before Warren stopped them in front of a door, where the number 24 had been spray-painted on with a stencil.

"Twenty-fourth floor," said Warren. "Dark fairies, missing family members, housewares and lingerie."

Warren then grasped the elevator door with his hands and slid it open. He and Bracken then slipped through it and landed on the carpeted floor of the hallway, as Bracken put Seth down.

"It's this way," said Seth, who had just read a sign directing visitors to their appropriate rooms.

They soon arrived outside room 2411. By now, Seth could feel his heart pounding faster and faster. It was without a doubt the same door he had seen through the Occulus. Bracken backed away from the door all the way to outside of room 2407, prompting Seth and Warren to follow him.

"We need a plan," said Bracken. "If Oblivion's in there, we won't able to just waltz in and grab the suitcase. Besides, the door is locked."

"Maybe we could lie and pretend we're housekeeping," said Seth.

"We'd still need a key, or Oblivion might get suspicious if we ask her to let us in," said Warren.

"Well I'm not in the mood to hunt down a valid key just to get in some room," said Bracken. "Stand back!"

Seth and Warren watched as Bracken's unicorn horn sprouted out from his forehead. His body then began to shape shift itself into a unicorn, as his hands and feet became hooves, in addition to growing a mane and tail. Before long, Bracken had assumed his magnificent silver stallion form.

"Let's do this," said Bracken as he trotted back down the hallway to room 2411. He positioned backside up against the door to room 2412, which proved to be somewhat difficult due to the narrowness of the hallway. He then charged directly into door 2411, piercing it with his horn while knocking it off of its hinges with his front hooves.

Seth and Warren followed Bracken into the room, where they saw a flabbergasted Oblivion sitting on her bed.

"No!" gasped Oblivion. "How did you find me?"

Kendra, who was still trapped inside the suitcase, was surprised to hear Oblivion scream.

Without saying anything, Seth reached for the suitcase that was laying on the desk. Oblivion then raised her hand and attempted to blast Seth with a shot of energy. However, Warren leaped in front of Seth and used his fairy power to conjure up a barrier that deflected the blast.

"I got it!" exclaimed Seth, as he grabbed the suitcase.

Kendra could feel the suitcase being picked up from within it, and was overjoyed when she heard her brother's voice.

"No!" screamed Oblivion, as she blasted more dark energy towards Seth and Warren. Warren set up another barrier, but the force of Oblivion's energy shattered it, knocking the two of them against the wall.

"Enough!" neighed Bracken, who then fired a rainbow out of his horn at Oblivion. The dark fairy retaliated by unleashing a wave of dark energy at Bracken. The energy not only disintegrated the rainbow, but regressed Bracken back into his human form. Even worse, it caused him to shrink down to the size of a minor fairy, complete with wings.

Mustering the strength to rise from the floor, Seth began to fixate himself on his powers. Although there was daylight pouring in through the window, Seth concentrated and thought of darkness, causing the room to go completely pitch black.

"You think you can overwhelm me with darkness just because I'm a fairy?" hissed Oblivion. "Ha!"

Kendra wanted to know what was going on outside the suitcase, but just couldn't tell.

Seth then had an idea. Assuming Oblivion couldn't see in the dark, he could try to find her and stab her to death with his dagger.

"Seth," gasped Warren wearily, as Seth began to step towards Oblivion. "Please stop. Your darkness is like poison to myself and Bracken."

Not wanting to endanger his friends, Seth recalled his dark presence, prompting light to fill the room once again. Looking around, Seth could see Warren, Bracken and to his surprise even Jake curled up into balls.

"Such a waste of good talent," said Oblivion. "Your friends can't even tolerate it. You'd make an amazing shadow charmer if you didn't care about your frilly fairy friends."

Outraged about what Oblivion said over her remark, Seth whipped out his dagger and hurled it at Oblivion like a javelin. Instinctively, she held up her arm to block it, only for the blade to get wedged within the skin of her right forearm.

"You irksome brat!" scoffed Oblivion, as she struggled to pull the dagger out of her arm with her other hand.

With Oblivion distracted, Seth bent down and rummaged through Warren's knapsack, then pulled out the Translocator. Bracken, still a diminutive fairy who appeared to have trouble with just standing up, staggered over to where Seth was.

Oblivion then flung Seth's dagger back towards him, but missed him by more than a foot. Growling furiously, she cast a wall of fire from her uninjured hand towards Seth, trapping him in a corner of the room, only to start closing in on him.

"As a fairy, I may not have the capacity to hurt you," said Oblivion, "but I can still let this fire do it for me."

Seth twisted the Translocator, knelt down, and set the instrument on the floor. He then scooped up Bracken in one hand and placed him against one side. If he was lucky, Oblivion wasn't able to see him through the wall of flames.

Both Seth and Kendra could feel the heat of the fire closing in on them. Kendra had no idea what was going on, but knew that she was in severe if only because of the fire. She tightly squeezed her mother in desperation.

Seth then grabbed Warren's hand and guided it to the other end of the Translocator. Alas, he wasn't sure if he could transport the suitcase, along with Kendra who was supposedly inside, if Kendra wasn't actuality making contact with the artifact.

Only inches away from the flames, Seth placed his other hand on the Translocator, closed his eyes, and thought about the living room back home at Fablehaven. Just as Seth started choking from the smoke, he then felt as the heat from the fire faded away, and his body was warped through the Translocator.

When Seth opened his eyes, he saw that he had successfully returned to Fablehaven. His father and grandfather were both standing before him.

"Seth!" gasped Grandpa. "My god, are all of you all right?"

"Grandpa?" asked Seth faintly.

"You're sweating like crazy," said Mr. Sorenson.

Seth looked to his side, and saw a fainted Warren with his hand still on the Translocator. On his other side lay Bracken in his tiny fairy form.

At this point, Grandma, Dale and the other fairies entered the living room.

"I'm all right," said Seth, as Dale helped him up from the floor and onto an armchair. But I don't know about Warren and Bracken."

"What happened to him?" asked the Fairy Queen cautiously, as she picked up her tiny son.

"And Warren?" added Clover.

"We got into a fight with Oblivion," said Seth. "She regressed Bracken into a little fairy. But when I tried to ward her off with my dark power, it crippled both him and Warren."

"Fortunately, I can heal them," said the Fairy Queen, placing Bracken down next to Warren. She then extended her hands and cast a rainbow down upon the two of them. As the energy flowed through their bodies, Bracken then grew into his proper human form, and the two of them slowly got up off of the floor.

"Man, that was weird," said Warren. "But what we're you thinking, Seth? You nearly got us all killed! What do we have to show for it?"

"I got Kendra," said Seth, pointing to the suitcase on the floor. "I hope."

"Let's pop this thing open and find out," said Bright, as she snapped her fingers, magically causing the suitcase to fling open. Sure enough, Kendra and the chihuahua whom nobody else recognized were inside the suitcase.

"Kendra!" gasped Mr. Sorenson. "It's you!"

"And a dog?" added Dale.

Kendra started to speak, but nobody could hear her tiny voice very well. The Fairy Queen then used her magic to enlarge Kendra back to her proper size, as well as Mrs. Sorenson to the size of an actual chihuahua.

"Dad!" cried Kendra, throwing her arms around her father. "Bracken! Warren! Seth! Dale! Everybody! I'm free!"

"Kendra?" asked Bright. "What happened? Where's your mother?

"Mom!" gasped Kendra. "Oblivion turned her into this dog!"

There was an eruption of confused voices from everyone else, while Mr. Sorenson bent down to touch his _wife_.

"So that's why I couldn't see her through the Translocator," exclaimed Seth. "But... my mother's a dog? Why'd this happen?"

"She's safe now. Will someone please restore our poor mother?"

The Fairy Queen then cast her magic upon Mrs. Sorenson, transmogrifying her body from that of a dog back into a human being.

Bent down on all fours, Mrs. Sorenson breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh lord, thank you."

"It's a miracle you two are back safe and sound," said Grandma, while Dale helped Mrs. Sorenson get up onto her feet. She then started to hug her family. "But, what happened with you two?"

"I'll start from the beginning," said Mrs. Sorenson, recounting the events of the other day, when Jake had ambushed her at the mall and forced her to wear the bracelet, then how she lost control of her body to him. She then went on to talk about how she duped Kendra into wearing a second bracelet.

Kendra then started to tell her side of the story, of how she was sent into the Fairy Kingdom and restored Oblivion. She continued, recounting as to how Oblivion had ordered the production of fake instruments, then sent Kendra back into the Fairy Kingdom in an attempt to switch them for the real ones.

"I have to ask," said Kendra, "why _couldn't_ I order the keepers to give me their instruments?"

"A safety precaution," replied the Fairy Queen. "I implemented it not because I didn't trust you, but because I have top authority over the instruments."

"Just as well," said Grandpa. "We'd have lost already if Kendra had succeeded in obtaining the instruments."

Kendra and Mrs. Sorenson continued to recap their experience, up to the part where they had been locked in the suitcase and ultimately rescued.

"I feel so awful about what I did," said Kendra.

"It's all right," said Grandpa. "It wasn't your fault."

"We thought you'd never find us," said Mrs. Sorenson. "How did you manage?"

"I used the Occulus," said Seth. "With my resistance to dark forces, it was pretty simple."

"I'm sorry we couldn't stop Oblivion for good when we found her," said Warren. "She was just too powerful. You saw what she did to Bracken almost effortlessly."

"That was really strange," said Seth. "I never envisioned Bracken having a form like that."

Looking over at Bracken, they could see that he was now falling asleep on the couch.

"Bracken must've taken a powerful blow to regress the way he did," noted the Fairy Queen. "He needs his rest. This is something that magic nor the Sands of Sanctity can remedy. He should feel better later."

"At least we escaped from Oblivion," said Kendra. "But I don't know what exactly she was planning. She said something about making _business deals_. But that's all I know."

"Whatever they are, they won't be good for us," said Grandpa. "We need to stop Oblivion and fast."

"How do you suggest we do that?" asked Seth.

"I stopped her the last time by becoming fairyprime," said Kendra. "What's to stop me from becoming fairyprime again and defeating her?"

"Your determination intrigues me, Kendra," said the Fairy Queen. "But I propose you wait until Bracken and Warren have fully recovered. If you're going to go fairyprime against Oblivion, I suggest getting all the support that you can."

"Not only that," said Clover, "but Oblivion now knows that we're on to her, since you guys were able to track her down already. She's probably going to take extra measures to ensure that sort of thing won't happen again."

"Then it's settled," said Kendra. "Once everybody is ready, we're going to go after Oblivion again and deal with her once and for all."


	9. Deal of Fortune

**Chapter 9: Deal of Fortune**

Shortly after the gathering, the Fairy Queen returned to her kingdom. In the meantime, Bracken had been escorted to the guest bedroom on the second floor of the house, where he was allowing his body to rest up after the drain Oblivion had inflicted him with.

Bright and Clover had gone back outside to watch over Fablehaven as the normally did, leaving the rest of the group back at home in the house. Kendra, Seth, Warren and Mrs. Sorenson all took their time getting freshened up after what they had just been through.

Once they had all cleaned themselves up, Kendra and Seth were both on the large couch, with Warren sitting between the two of them.

"Warren," said Seth, "I'm really sorry about that whole darkness mess I caused back at the hotel."

"I got over it," said Warren. "Don't worry about it too much. It wasn't fatal or anything. Bracken, though. He had to endure not only that, but the regression into a fairy."

"That was really strange," said Kendra. "But, I guess it makes sense. I know that technically he's both. It's just that I've always only ever really thought of him as a unicorn."

Seth chuckled. "Well, pretend that you're Bracken, and you're introducing yourself to someone. Are you going to tell them that you, a well built, mature man are a unicorn, or a fairy?"

Kendra squinted one eye. "You've got a point. Can't blame Bracken for not wanting to give a bad first impression. I just think it's just odd that hasn't outright said that he's a fairy, ever. Even though we've known him for several months now. Look, Bracken's a great unicorn, err... fairy. Uh, whatever. He's a great guy and I'm honored to have him in my life."

"Aren't you three going to do anything?" asked Grandpa, stepping into the living room.

"Like what?" asked Seth. "We're waiting for Bracken to recover like we were told."

"Oblivion is still out there. Aren't you going to at least find out what she's up to, or where she's going? It's the least you can do while you wait for Bracken to recover.

Grandpa then presented Seth with the Occulus. "I'm sorry, but the more we can do to follow Oblivion, the better. Even if it's not an optimal moment to go after her, it would be in our best interest to at least know where she is."

Seth felt dumbstruck, as Kendra and Warren both nodded in unison, as if by instinct.

"Okay," said Seth, clenching the Occulus in his hands as he closed his eyes.

Seth attempted to focus on Oblivion, but nothing seemed to be happening. All he could see were the inside of his eyelids, which he more commonly referred to as _nothing_. He could feel his the palms of his hands firmly squeezing against the Occulus, and tried envisioning Oblivion again, this time with more zeal.

"It's not working," grumbled Seth, still trying to get a reading on Oblivion.

"Anything?" asked Kendra.

"No!"

"You know what she looks like," said Warren. "No way you just forgot."

"Well, it's not working," exclaimed Seth, who seemed to be going nowhere fast.

"Let me try," said Kendra.

Seth groaned for a moment, then opted to open his eyes and release his grasp on the Occulus.

"Look, you've only ever used this the one time," said Kendra, accepting the artifact from her brother. "I'm more experienced than you."

"I'll never get more experience if you keep hogging the thing."

"Boys," huffed Kendra, as she gripped the Occulus in her hands and shut her eyes. She then pictured Oblivion in her mind, but nothing seemed to be happening. She increased her concentration, picturing how Oblivion looked more thoroughly. Oblivion had a slender build, and usually wore a long, sleek silk dress, which was just as black as her long, wavy hair and jagged wings. Nothing happened.

"It's not working," said Kendra, still trying to get a reading but to no avail.

Warren groaned. "Don't tell me... Wait, Jake was with her. He's incapable of magic. Try looking for him."

Kendra dropped her envisionment of Oblivion from her train of thought and proceeded to think of Jake. She knew what the little datchtit looked like. He was a diminutive, green, troll-like creature, and due to her recent experience, Jake was still fresh in her mind.

Nothing happened. Just as the case was with Oblivion, her attempt to locate Jake was accomplishing nothing.

"I can't get him either."

"Oblivion must've cast some spell to protect both herself and Jake from being seen through the Occulus," said Warren.

Seth squirmed his face. "Give me a break! How would she know enough about how the Occulus even works to ever do something like that?"

"Well, the Sphinx _did_ have the Occulus for a while prior to the whole Zzyzx ordeal. And this was also back when Oblivion was working for him. She likely studied the Occulus as best she could while they still had it."

"But how did she know we had it?"

"Oblivion may not know what exactly happened to the artifacts after Zzyzx, but she knows for a fact that we have the Translocator, because of what went on with Ashley and Tritanoss.

"You're right," said Kendra. "We used it to escape from Ashley. Twice. And Oblivion disabled it while we were in Auqaton."

"So if she knew that we had at least one of the instruments, it was probably safe for her to assume we had more, especially since we were just now able to pinpoint exactly where she was keeping you. Coupled with her understanding of the Occulus, it wouldn't surprise me if she whipped up some sort of signal scrambling spell."

"Great," said Seth. "What are we supposed to do now? Go headhunting in New York?"

"I don't know," sighed Warren. "Without the Occulus, we'd be searching for a needle in a haystack."

"We could try that trick where we detect light energy," said Seth. "Since Oblivion's a fairy..."

"A _dark_ fairy," said Kendra, interrupting Seth. Her two sides probably cancel each other out."

"I'll speak to Stan about this predicament," said Warren. "But for now, I have no more real suggestions. Sorry."

Time began to march on, but neither Kendra or Seth felt like engaging in any sort of activity. A few more hours passed, but the two siblings heard nothing from anybody. While Warren had assumedly spoken with Grandpa, it was likely that they had not reached a conclusion as to what they should do next.

Sometime after lunch, Seth was by himself in the parlor room, lying upside-down in an armchair with his head dangling above the plus rug that was sprawled out along the floor. Practically in daze, living in his own little world, Seth was shaken by the sudden ringing of a bell.

Snapping back into reality, Seth rotated his body around so that he was facing rightside up, and looked over to where the bell was coming from Positioned on a nearby table, Seth looked at the ringing phone. It was one of those old, black, rotary phones from the 1950's. Despite its age, like much of the furnishings at Fablehaven, it was in great condition.

After ringing one more time, the phone went silent. Someone had probably answered it in another room. Curious, Seth reached over to the phone and covered the mouthpiece with his hand. He then grabbed the handset with his other hand and lifted it off the base of the phone, placing the receiver up against his ear. The first thing he heard was a woman's voice.

"... Dynabridge Corporation."

"Dynabridge Corporation?" asked Grandpa, who was speaking on the other end.

"Yes. You may have heard of us," said the woman.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"That's why I've called you!" said the woman in a bubbly voice. "I'm calling on behalf of company president Thaddeus Stafford."

Although he was unfamiliar with any _Dynabridge Corporation_, Seth had recalled hearing the name Thaddeus Stafford occasion, mainly on television when his parents were watching the news.

"Mr. Sorenson, we here at the Dynabridge Corporation understand that you own a large piece of property somewhere within the countryside of Connecticut."

"What's this about?" asked Grandpa. "But to answer your question, I do own land out there. It's my home."

"Fantastic! Mr. Sorenson, would you be interested in selling your property?"

"What?" asked Grandpa, who was just as surprised as Seth.

"Dynabridge is looking to develop an amusement park in New England, and after doing some research, we think that Connecticut would be an ideal location."

"The answer is no,"

"Won't you reconsider? We're prepared to offer you an outstanding amount of money. How does one billion sound? Too low?"

"No deal. I'll refuse any offer. Goodbye!"

Seth then heard a click, imagining his grandfather hanging up his phone. A moment later, Seth heard the lady on the other line hang up. This prompted him to hang up as well.

Before he could begin to absorb the conversation he had just been eavesdropping in on, Seth could hear Grandpa's voice as he exited his study down the hall.

"Everybody to the living room," he called. Knowing where this was heading, Seth obliged, if only to play dumb. He left the parlor and walked over to the living room, where the other current occupants of the house had also gathered.

"I just got off the phone with the Dynabridge Corporation," said Grandpa, taking a seat on the couch.

"Um," began Seth, "what exactly is the Dynabridge Corporation?"

"I know who they are," said Mr. Sorenson. "They're a large development firm in the entertainment industry. They build and develop all sorts of venues like theme parks, resorts and stadiums."

"Thank you, Scott," said Grandpa. "As I was saying, Dynabridge just spoke to me on the phone, proposing to purchase this property for a large sum of money."

A few other people gasped and started chatting amongst themselves. Seth remained quiet.

"Now, I quickly turned down the offer and hung up," continued Grandpa. "This having something to do with Oblivion wouldn't surprise me."

"A-ha," said Warren, checking something on his phone. "Dynabridge's main headquarters are located in Manhattan. This has Oblivion written all over it."

Kendra shook her head. "So Oblivion knows we're on to her. And she's obviously done something to block the Occulus. So why try something like this? She wouldn't seriously think should just flat out buy Fablehaven. It's like she's just giving herself away."

"Or she might not even be with Dynabridge at all," said Warren. "Maybe she just wants to mislead us."

"The Dynabridge story seems authentic," said Grandpa. "The caller ID on my phone said it was them who called. She clearly has some influence on them. This whole thing can't be a coincidence. Nobody has ever attempted to purchase Fablehaven before throughout its entire existence."

"I don't see what Oblivion hopes to accomplish," said Seth. "No way you'd ever sell this place."

"That is true," said Grandpa. "But I can't understand why Oblivion would willingly give herself away like that."

"Perhaps she's flaunting her power," said Grandma. "Trying to ruffle our feathers. Think about it. She's managed to pull off a corporate takeover in no more than a few hours."

"I don't know where in the company she actually is," said Grandpa. "The person who phoned me was just a representative. Whether she was under Oblivion's control directly, or merely taking orders from someone else who was is anybody's guess."

"Is Fablehaven in any real danger?" asked Kendra.

"From what I can fathom, probably not," replied Grandpa. "I am the legal owner of the land that this preserve is on. There is no clause or law out there requiring me to give the place up. I pay my bills and taxes, with assistance from the Knights of the Dawn. As far as the government is concerned, there is nothing illicit about this place. They don't have any clue about the creatures that dwell here."

"But there's still the matter of Oblivion," noted Grandma. "She needs to be stopped ASAP. She could still try to figure out some sort of loophole to get back into Fablehaven."

"How do you propose we find her?" asked Seth. "Travel to Dynabridge and..."

"I'm not sure what the best approach to this would be," said Grandpa, interrupting Seth. "Oblivion now knows that we know about Dynabridge. If somebody goes to investigate, she might try to spring a trap."

"We have to do something," said Kendra. "If we could just figure out where Oblivion was, we would be able to put a stop to this whole ordeal."

The rest of the afternoon passed, and fortunately enough, nobody from Dynabridge made any effort to contact Grandpa again. Seth was anxious to scope out Dynabridge's corporate headquarters, but the others advised against it until Bracken had fully recuperated. Eventually, it was dinner time and Grandma had prepared homemade pizzas, a treat to celebrate the rescue of Kendra and Mrs. Sorenson. Bracken had now recovered, and was joining the family for dinner.

As much as they appreciated Grandma's cooking, Seth and Kendra ate their dinner rather quickly. Seth managed to scarf down three slices of mushroom and salami before Warren announced that they should get going.

Kendra, Seth, Bracken and Warren excused themselves from the table and made their way into the study. Much of their gear was already there, waiting for them.

"All right," said Warren, fishing the Transclocator out of his bag. "I did a ton of research on Dynabridge this afternoon. Hopefully, it'll be enough. We'll travel to New York and scope out their headquarters as best we can. No idea if we'll find Oblivion, but this trip is just to gain some insight over what's really going on over there."

"It's almost seven PM," said Kendra, grabbing a bag.

"Right. But there may still be some employees there working late. If Oblivion is still around, we might even be able to nip this whole thing in the bud. And, if we have to return later, it'll be easier getting back with the Translocator since we'll have already been there."

"All right," said Seth. "It's probably best we just go and see what we can find."

Warren twisted the Translocator in his hands. "Let's get a move on!"

As Warren grasped the center of the Translocator, Kendra, Seth and Bracken all grabbed hold as well. The Translocator then began to pull them through, but as Seth and Kendra both experienced the sensation, something felt amiss. Everything became all wobbly.

The trip seemed to take slightly longer than it normally did, as they emerged not anyplace in New York City, but on a highway road somewhere in a desert. Additionally, the sun was higher in the sky than it was back at Fablehaven, and the temperature was too high for their winter clothes.

"Where... are we?" asked Seth. "Warren, why didn't we go to New York?"

Before Warren could respond, they could hear a the horn of a truck approaching.

"Look out!" blared Warren, as he leapt off the side of the road and onto the gravel shoulder. Kendra, Seth and Bracken all followed, jumping off the road mere seconds before the truck would've collided right into them.

The trailer truck drove past where they were standing without slowing down. Kendra heard what sounded like profanity come out of the cab's open window, but it was muffled by the noise of the moving vehicle.

"Warren, what's wrong with you?" cried Bracken.

Warren shook his head. "I don't know! When I used the Translocator, I envisioned the rooftop that Seth took us to this morning."

"I thought that the Translocator wouldn't send you anywhere if you tried to go somewhere you've never been," said Kendra.

Warren smacked his head. "Oh no! Don't tell me. Oblivion's found a way to meddle with the Translocator as well!"

"How could she?" asked Kendra.

"The two instruments might function on a similar magical frequency," said Bracken. "Whatever Oblivion's done to interfere with the Occulus, may also be messing with the Translocator, intentionally or not.

"But the Occulus wasn't working at all for us," said Seth. "At least the Translocator sent us... somewhere."

"Where is _here_, anyway?" asked Kendra.

"No idea," said Warren. "But if I had to guess, it reminds me of the time I went to New Mexico. Maybe we should try using the Translocator again."

"But who knows where it'll send us," said Seth.

"Only one way to find out," said Warren, twisting the Translocator again. "At least it works. To an extent."

The group used the Translocator a second time. Again, the process of travelling felt peculiar. This time, they found themselves deep in a tropical jungle. It was extremely humid and the sky was pitch black.

"Where are we now?" asked Kendra.

Warren looked around with a flashlight. "A jungle. Possibly Growler's Grove."

"What's that?" asked Seth.

"A preserve in the Republic of the Congo."

"Let's get outta here," said Kendra anxiously, as Warren used the Translocator a third time. On this trip, they emerged in the waiting room of an airport terminal. Several people were staring at them.

"Que se passe-t-il!", said a woman who was sitting directly in front of the knights who had just appeared directly before them.

"Uh, sorry," said Warren cautiously. "Day-so-lay?"

"Qu'avez-vous fait?"

"Let's find a quiet spot," said Bracken.

"Il parler anglais!" said another woman.

"Yeah, we do," said Seth, as Warren led the others away from the people who were starting to crowd around them.

"I was trying for New York this time," said Warren. "Honest."

"This doesn't seem much better than that dragon sanctuary," said Kendra.

"I remember this airport. We're in Belgium."

"An airport?" asked Seth. "Hey, if the Translocator is on the fritz, we can always just ride a plane home."

"After all that commotion?" asked Warren. "I'll take my chances with the Translocator. Besides, the last thing we need to deal with now is airport security."

They veered into a small corridor, and Warren wasted no time in setting up the Translocator. Once they were in position, the artifact transported them into a small, unlit room with a large dentists' chair in the center.

"This looks like a dentists' office," said Kendra

"It's _our_ dentist," said Warren. "Dr. Schulman. "We're in his office after hours. But the good news is, we're in Crossroad Pass, not far from Fablehaven!"

"Good enough," said Seth. "Let's take this stop rather than risking it again."

The group went out into the waiting room of the dentists' office, and Warren tried opening the main door, but couldn't open it.

"Is that thing locked?" asked Bracken. "Let me get it for you."

Bracken snapped his fingers next to the doorknob, and the door made a clicking sound.

"Thanks," said Warren, as he opened the door and led the others out into the hallway.


	10. Corporate Raiders

**Chapter 10: Corporate Raiders**

The group walked through the hallway and made their way to the glass front doors of the Crossroad Pass Medical Building. Warren pressed against the handles, but they were shut tight.

"Bracken, do your thing," said Warren.

Bracken used his magic to unlock the door. They then pushed the doors outwards and made their way onto the sidewalk. They were now on a street somewhere in Crossroad Pass.

"How are we getting to New York?" asked Seth.

"Not with this thing," said Warren, placing the Translocator back into his bag. "If we're having trouble with the Translocator, it might be wise to go home and rethink this whole thing further."

The group then walked down the sidewalk, where Warren led them all into an alleyway.

"Warren," said Kendra, "you recognized all the places the Translocator sent us, right?"

Warren nodded. "At least it's doing that right. It's picking places I've travelled to, instead of letting me decide. And I've been all over."

"Well this accomplished a lot," said Seth sarcastically. "Let's just call Dad and ask him for a lift home."

"Why?" asked Bracken. "I can get us there faster." He then allowed himself to shape-shift into his unicorn form. "Hop on."

Although it was a tight fit, Kendra, Seth and Warren all climbed up onto Bracken's back. If there had been a fourth rider, it might have been to much. Kendra, who was sitting in the front, held onto Bracken's crest, while Seth held her shoulders and Warren held Seth's.

Bracken then leapt up into the air and began flying into the sky, soaring over Crossroad Pass. Although he lacked wings, Bracken was capable of flying by using magic. Kendra didn't understand why, but for some reason, Bracken appeared to be galloping as he flew through the air in the direction of Fablehaven.

As Bracken could fly relatively quickly, they arrived back at Fablehaven in a matter of minutes. Once he landed, Kendra, Seth and Warren dismounted and Bracken resumed his human form.

* * *

What do you mean the Translocator isn't working?" asked Grandpa. He was sitting at the desk in his study, examining the artifact in his hands.

"It _does_ work," said Warren, who was sitting in one of the armchairs. "Just not properly. I was trying to use it to get to New York, but instead it just kept sending me to arbitrary places I'd been to in the past. I wasn't thinking about them at all."

Warren told Grandpa of the places the Translocator had sent them to, with Kendra and Seth adding their own little remarks.

"That could've been extremely dangerous," said Grandpa. "You should've stopped sooner. You got lucky ending up at the dentist."

"We theorized that whatever Oblivion did to interfere with the Occulus is also causing problems for the Translocator," said Bracken.

"I'll call Trask and see if he can look into what's making the artifacts act up. For now, we should avoid using them altogether."

"What about Dynabridge?" asked Kendra.

"It's only getting later and later," said Grandpa. "And if it comes down it, you won't be able to escape using the Translocator. Besides, a lot of people working there would have gone home by the time you get there. I think you should wait until tomorrow before heading out. Maybe have Bright and Raxtus join you this time. But I'd rather Clover remain here. With all this commotion, it would be unwise to let both of Fablehaven's fairy angels leave this place."

"Understood," said Seth, as the others nodded in agreement.

* * *

Bracken had spent the night at Fablehaven in the guest bedroom. The next morning, every had gotten up early for breakfast. Everybody was eating at the table when the phone rang.

"I hate it when people call during a meal,"

"It might be Trask," said Grandpa, as he got up and went into the kitchen to answer the ringing phone.

"It's best I get this."

"Hello?" asked Grandpa, picking up the phone.

There was a brief pause as Grandpa listened to the person on the other line.

"Yes, this is Stanley Sorenson. What? No! Of course not! I've owned this property for decades! It's been in my extended family for generations! Yes, I have legal documents! You what? You've got to be kidding me! Tomorrow? Fine!"

Although he was in the other room, everyone else could hear Grandpa slamming the handset against the base of the phone, as he entered the dining room with a scowl on his face.

"I don't believe this!" blared Grandpa, anger radiating through his voice. "Bunch of idiots!"

"Stan, what's the matter?" asked Grandma, placing her hand around her husband's shoulder.

"So Dynabridge wants to buy Fablehaven. I rejected their offer. But guess what? Dynabridge did some investigating with the Connecticut government. Apparently, _I_ don't own this land! Nobody does!"

Everyone's jaws dropped in shock.

"That's preposterous!" said Grandma. "We've owned this land for ages! We pay our taxes! We have all the legal documents!"

"Well, according to the land records office, the land that Fablehaven is on is unowned."

Seth shook his head. "They're just being dumb! You're not the owner of this land? Throw your deeds at them and see what they think."

"They might overrule that argument if they're unable to come up with government records over ownership of this land."

"What's going to happen?" asked Kendra nervously."

"They're taking me to court. And I'll do whatever it takes, pay whatever they want, to save Fablehaven."

"What if you don't win the case?" asked Seth.

"Well, they'll probably seize the land and force us all to leave."

"But, Fablehaven is protected! They can't _force_ us to leave if they can't get on the property. Even if they try."

"We'd still be in serious trouble with the government. And that's something I just can't afford to deal with. If we surrender the land, not only would I be arrested, but all the creatures living here will have no place to go. It'll be chaos."

"I find it pretty odd that the government would suddenly come down on you like this," said Grandma. "It'd be safe to assume that this is also due to Oblivion's meddling."

"Who knows where she is," said Warren. "Our only now is to just start searching."

"Start at Dynabridge," said Grandpa. "She must still have some influence over there if she got them interesting buying this land for so much money. Even if you don't find her, you might still find some clues. In the interim, I'll send for some other knights to look into the land registration for Fablehaven. Meanwhile, Trask and I will try to examine the artifacts and see if we can determine what's wrong with them."

"We better get going," said Warren. "If Oblivion's causing all this trouble now, things may only get worse if we don't stop her."

* * *

After finishing breakfast, Kendra, Seth, Warren and Bracken all washed up and got ready to depart. They then met up with Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus in the yard, and explained the situation to them.

"They _what_?" asked Bright angrily. "They can't seize Fablehaven!"

"What's this _government_ thing about anyway?" asked Raxtus. "They don't sound so tough. If they give us trouble, I'll recruit some other dragons and we'll show them who's boss."

"No," said Warren sternly. "Problems like this aren't solved that way."

"Then how _do_ you solve them?" asked Geminus, who was holding Vanessa in her arms. "Fablehaven's in danger, and you're intending to perhaps _maybe_ find Oblivion?"

"I don't think you understand just how big and powerful the government is," said Kendra. "A lot bigger than the Evening Star, I can say that."

"Look, if we stop Oblivion, we should be able to remedy everything that's gone wrong," said Bracken. "Bright, Raxtus, let's go!"

"Good luck everybody," said Clover, giving Warren a kiss.

"Please succeed," said Geminus, giving Raxtus a hug.

Bracken then transformed into a unicorn, prompting Kendra and Bright to mount him, while Warren and Seth climbed onto Raxtus. Raxtus and Bracken both made a running start and simultaneously leapt up into the sky.

Less than half an hour had gone by once they arrived in New York City. High above the rooftops, everyone looked down at the concrete jungle that lay beneath them. Warren then directed Bracken and Raxtus to Central Park, landing in an area covered in dense trees.

"Why'd we have to land here?" asked Seth, leaping off of Raxtus' back. The density of the trees didn't give anyone a lot of room to stand.

"This area's full of trees," said Warren. "For a busy place like New York, there aren't too many people who are going to wander into this neck of the woods."

Kendra and Bright then got off of Bracken, who resumed his human form.

"We're going to be on foot for a while," said Warren. "Raxtus, turn invisible and follow us."

"Got it," said Raxtus, as he suddenly vanished from sight.

The group made their way through the trees and into a clearing where they discovered a path. As they walked down the path, they passed by many different people, none of whom had any idea as to what they were actually up to. However, anytime they passed someone with a dog, the dog would sometimes stop to sniff around, almost as though it could sense Raxtus' presence.

Before long, the group had made it through the park and out onto Fifth Avenue. From there, they entered a taxi and were brought directly to the Dynabridge building.

As Kendra got out of the taxi and stepped onto the sidewalk, she looked up at the tower. Dark glass windows covered the entire side of the building, which looked to be a good fifty stories high.

"What about Raxtus?" asked Seth, as they walked across the sidewalk towards the front entrance to the building. "Where is here?

"Right here," said a tiny voice, as something landed poked Seth's leg. "I'm in my human form, invisibly."

Seth lowered his backpack "You can ride in here," he said, lifting the bag up once he could sense Raxtus climbing inside of it. He then placed it back on his back and passed through the front door into the towering structure.

The lobby was a vast room that was at least five stories high, adorned with marble columns, slanted skylights, archways, an indoor fountain, small gardens and several statues.

There were a few other groups of people, all dressed in business suits, who were talking amongst each and and paid no real attention to the knights as they walked towards the far wall, where a large directory had been posted.

"Thaddeus Stafford's office is on the penthouse," said Warren, who was gazing at all the names on the directory. "We may not find Oblivion, but we can at least make an effort."

They walked over to the elevator and boarded one, which brought them up quite a distance before letting them off at the penthouse. When they got off, they found themselves in large office. The nearest fixture was a reception desk, where a woman was sitting.

"Can I help you with anything?" asked the woman, who displayed a look of arrogance on her face. Kendra could only assume that the woman didn't take kindly to riff-raff, or anyone who wasn't formally dressed, entering the office. Kendra then noticed that a nameplate with _Susan Dellman _was on the desk.

"We'd like to meet with Mr. Stafford," said Warren.

"Do you have an appointment?" asked Susan typing away on her keyboard and gazing at the monitor.

"Technically no. But this is extremely urgent. It's regarding a very big transaction."

"Mr. Stafford is quite busy today. If you want to request an appointment, maybe I can try to set up something in the new year at the earliest."

"I guess we'll have to leave. Sorry to bother you, ma'am."

Kendra and Seth looked at each other, as Warren signalled for everyone to walk back towards the elevators.

"Bright," said Warren softly. "Put that woman to sleep."

Bright pointed at Susan and shot a bit of energy at her. Susan then yawned, closed her eyes, placed her head between her arms and fell asleep on the desk.

"That takes care of her," said Seth, as the group proceeded to walk past Susan's desk.

They walked down a hallway and entered a corridor, lined with closed doors. Behind the doors, Kendra pictured office suites and boardrooms in her mind. At the end of the hallway was a set of large, wooden doors. There was a engraved golden sign on one of the doors which read:

_Thaddeus Stafford IV,_

_CEO_

Warren twisted one of the ornate door levers, but it wouldn't budge. The other one was also locked.

"This guy's playing hard to get," said Bracken, placing his hand over the door handles and snapping his fingers, prompting the doors to unlock. He then twisted a handle and opened one of the doors.

The group entered Mr. Stafford's office. It was a large room that containing a window that took up an entire wall, wooden desk, several chairs, couches, tables with flowers and candies, bookshelves and even an aquarium. The only person in the room was a Fillipina lady with a vacuum cleaner.

"Can I help you?" asked the cleaning lady. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Where can we find Mr. Stafford?" asked Seth. "Tell us and we'll leave."

"I don't know. He doesn't tell me. Now leave."

"Guys," said Bright. "I can sense you-know-what. She's gotta be in the building, but I don't know where."

The cleaning lady gave the group an annoyed look.

"We'll be going, miss," said Bracken, as they walked back towards the door.

The cleaning lady suddenly roared, causing the door to slam shut and lock. She then dropped the hose of her cylinder vacuum cleaner as she transformed into a large, burgundy, horned serpent. She was covered in spines, much like how quills covered a porcupine, and had massive, curled horns protruding from her head. She hissed out a glob of clear, mucus-like fluid which landed on an armchair, causing it to start melting upon contact.

The serpent, who took up nearly half the room, spat more acid at the knights, but they managed to dodge it. Bracken wasted no time transforming into a unicorn, while Raxtus, now visible, popped out of Seth's bag and grew into his dragon form.

Bracken charged directly into the serpent's unprotected underside, stabbing into her with his horn. She hissed in pain and spewed more acid, this aiming at Warren's face. Warren had blocked the acid with his arms, and was screaming in pain as the acid burned through his skin and flesh.

"It's too fast!" gasped Warren.

Bracken removed his horn and stabbed the serpent again. Raxtus grasped the serpent by her throat, but not before she shot Bright with acid, which seared the front of her face. The serpent roared furiously as Bracken and Raxtus continued to fight with her.

"No!" shrieked Kendra, looking at Warren and Bright.

"Seth!" cried Warren, trying to cope with the pain he was experiencing. "Open the back left pouch of my bag!"

Warren remained still as Seth looked through his pouch. Sure enough, the Sands of Sanctity was in it. Seth pulled it out.

"What if doesn't work, like the other instruments?" asked Seth, hesitant to pour it on Warren.

"Just use it! It's about to burn through my bones!"

Seth poured the Sands of Sanctity onto Warren's arms. Although his sleeves were ruined, his arms healed perfectly. Seth then poured some sand onto Bright's gnarled face, restoring it to normal. At least the Sands of Sanctity worked properly.

"Thank god," said Warren.

"No. Thank Seth."

With the serpent distracted, Bright unleashed a rainbow from her hands at it, nearly immobilizing her. Bracken then pulled his blood-soaked horn out from the serpent and shot a rainbow from it at her as well.

"My stabs in her healed quickly!" exclaimed Bracken. "I don't know how long our power can hold her back!"

Seth tried to focus on possibly controlling the creature, since it reacted to light energy, but couldn't manage to do so. "If only we had Vasilis!"

"We'd better get out of here!" said Bright.

Kendra twisted the handles, but the doors wouldn't open. "They're locked!"

Raxtus let go of the serpent and bolted back towards the doors. He rammed into them, breaking through the lock and crashing out into the hallway.

"This thing's too powerful!" said Bright, still assaulting the serpent with a rainbow, along with her brother.

"It must be a volgor!" said Warren. "Oblivion planted it here as a trap! She knew we were coming!"

"Then what are we still doing here?" asked Seth.

"Our power isn't enough!" cried Bracken. We need to get out of here!"

The volgor shot another blast of acid towards Warren, who managed to block it in time with an energy shield, as Bright and Bracken ceased to emit their rainbows. Bracken turned back into a human, while Raxtus turned invisible, and the group dashed out the doorway.

The group sprinted down the hallway. Looking back, Kendra could see the volgor barrelling down the hallway in pursuit, its wide body almost too large to fit between the walls. They made it to the reception area, where Susan was still asleep at her desk.

"Should we take the elevator?" asked Seth, gazing at the row of elevator doors that were arranged before him.

"We might get stuck!" yelled Warren. "And we haven't found Oblivion! This way!"

Warren barged through an exit door, which the others followed him through. They trampled their way down a stairwell, passing by several floors.

"You think she followed us?" asked Seth, once the group stopped after running down roughly ten stories.

From above, the group could hear a pair of feet trotting down the stairs. No doubt it was the volgor in her human form.

"Great," moaned Kendra.

"Think we can take her on as a human?" asked Seth.

"It's only an avatar," said Warren. "She's still very powerful."

At that moment, about ten men dressed as security guards had marched up the stairs from the one of the lower floors. They stopped at the first landing below the floor the group was standing on.

"Halt!" said the lead guard. "You are under arrest for trespassing!"

All of the guards had shotguns aimed directly at the group. Additionally, the cleaning lady had reached and was standing on the first landing above the group. The only way out was the door behind them. But there wasn't enough time to escape through it without getting shot at.

"I think we're trapped," said Seth wearily.


	11. Retribution

**Chapter 11: Retribution**

Walking up the stairway from the floor below, the security guards approached the Knights of the Dawn, their guns drawn. Kendra looked up the stairs, and could see the volgor, disguised as a cleaning lady, standing on on the landing between between floors.

"Hurry!" exclaimed Warren, pulling the door open. One of the security guards wasted no time in shooting at the knights as they scrambled to get through the door. His bullet managed to shoot itself into Seth's arm.

"OWW!" screamed Seth, bolting through the door with the rest of the group. "MY ARM!" They were now on a lower floor of the building, this one filled with cubicles. His arm bleeding in pain, Seth still had the Sands of Sanctity, but could not apply it properly while running.

As the group passed by several rows of cubicles, most of which appeared to be occupied, they looked back and watched as the guards and cleaning lady chased them across the floor. Several workers looked out from their cubicles to watch the action.

They eventually made it to the wall at the end of the room, where a photocopier and a table with several coffee makers sat. Not knowing what else she could do, Kendra removed a filled jug from one of the coffee makers. Able to sense its heat, Kendra tossed the jug of coffee directly at the approaching guards. It smashed upon hitting one of them, bits of glass and boiling hot coffee flying everywhere.

"This way," said Warren, opening another door that was underneath a glowing red EXIT sign. They passed through the doorway and found themselves in another stairwell.

"What if more guards come?" asked Seth, looking down the stairwell.

"To the roof, then," said Bracken. "We'll fly out of here."

The knights proceeded up the stairs, well aware of the fact that the guards were chasing them, and were no more than two floors below at all times.

After climbing enough flights of stairs, Warren pushed a door open, and a cold front of winter air blasted through the doorway. They had made it to the roof.

"Hurry!" said Kendra, as Raxtus hopped out of Seth's backpack and returned to his dragon form, while Bracken turned into a unicorn. At this point, the door opened up, but only the cleaning lady and one guard stood there. Seth recognized the guard as the one who shot them.

"Take care of them," said guard, closing the door behind the cleaning lady.

By now, Kendra and Bright had gotten back onto Bracken, while Warren and Seth did likewise with Raxtus. Bracken and Raxtus took off into the air, flying up towards the clouds. Kendra looked back at the cleaning lady and watch as she transformed back into a volgor, only now she was also sporting dark, leathery wings.

"Got it," said Warren," removing the bullet from Seth's arm with a pair of large tweezers. Seth then sprinkled the Sands of Sanctity on his wound with his other hand, healing it instantly.

"She's gaining on us!" cried Kendra prompting everyone to look back. The volgor was closing in, flying faster than Raxtus and Bracken.

"Faster!" shrieked Seth.

The volgor shot a blast of acid at Raxtus, singing his wing. The fairy dragon screamed in agony as he lost control and began spiralling down towards the city below in a tailspin.

Raxtus and his passengers screamed for dear life, just as Bracken stopped dead in his tracks and dove down after him.

Bright then shot a large rainbow from her hands down towards Raxtus. The end of the rainbow zipped several dozen feet before bending below the falling dragon and gently curved upwards, creating an upside-down arc which Raxtus crashed onto.

"Raxtus!" gasped Warren.

"You'll be okay," said Seth, climbing off the dragon and setting his feet down onto the rainbow. Despite its transparency, he and Warren could still stand on it.

As Bracken and his riders approached, the volgor spat more acid. It hit and disintegrated a higher portion of the rainbow, like fire burning through paper.

"Thanks, Seth," said Raxtus, as Seth sprinkled the Sands of Sanctity onto Raxtus' wing.

"Give me the Sands of Sanctity!" hissed the volgor, who had almost caught up with them.

"How do we stop that thing?" asked Seth.

"I need to go fairyprime!" gasped Kendra. "It's our only hope!"

"No time to waste!" said Bracken, as he and Bright transformed themselves into multicolored balls of light which Kendra absorbed. She was now floating in midair.

Without saying a word, Raxtus and Warren used their power to turn themselves and Seth into platinum, green and blue balls of light, which also flew into Kendra.

Her body now brimming with power, Kendra felt stronger. She then felt as her wings grew out from her shoulder blades and her hair turned into rainbow-colored streaks.

"Last chance!" hissed the volgor.

At that moment. Kendra unleashed a brilliant rainbow from her hands at the volgor. Far more vibrant the the ones Bright and Bracken had used, this rainbow engulfed the monster in a field of multicolored energy.

The volgor wriggled and screamed in pain. Part of Kendra almost felt bad about what the monster was going through, but refused to give in. Soon the burgundy creature's body was glowing in a rainbow of colors, which glowed brighter and brighter, until it suddenly got too weak and faded out of existence.

Kendra ceased her rainbow attack and lowered her hands. There was no sign of the volgor anywhere. Where had it gone? Presumably to the netherworld. Now that she was in her fairyprime form, Kendra felt that she could return to Dynabridge and confront Oblivion once and for all.

Diving back down below the clouds, the skyscrapers of Manhattan soon came back into view below Kendra. In spite of the myriad of tall buildings that dotted the cityscape, she soon had her sights set on Dynabridge Tower. Her wings flapping furiously, Kendra soon found her way back to the rooftop of the massive building.

Once she set her feet onto the roof, Kendra began walking towards the door to the stairwell. If she had the power to banish the volgor, Oblivion and those security guards wouldn't stand a chance. Or would they? While it was unlikely that she could truly banish the guards, she could no doubt incapacitate them.

"So, you've returned," said Oblivion, whose voice had just emerged from the now-open doorway leading into the stairwell. It completely caught Kendra off guard.

Kendra clenched her hands firmly directed a sneer directly at the dark fairy. "What are you trying to do?" she asked sternly.

"You've perished my volgor. Well done. You really are powerful. But so am I."

"My power is greater. I've stopped you before and I'm prepared to do it again."

"Our powers parallel each other. Don't you remember? I was under the impression that I stole your power when you were brought to Denton, but unbeknownst to me, it remained latent in your body and self-restored itself. The only reason you were able to defeat me in the past it because you possess the ability to become fairyprime."

"Something _you'll _never amount to."

Oblivion rolled her eyes. "I don't need to become fairyprime. I became a formidable fairy long before I ever heard of you. Your power only served to increase my own."

"My fairyprime is willingly powered by the hearts and magic of others. I'm not alone."

"That may be. But I was watching you through the eyes of the volgor. I'm well aware of the fact that your fairy friends exhausted a considerable amount of power trying to stop the volgor in Stafford's office. Combine that with the energy you used to defeat the volgor while fairyprime, and its clear that you are far from being at full power. The only reason you defeated me in the past was because I had exhausted a lot of my power restoring Tritanoss and getting to Fablehaven, while you were in peak condition. Now it would appear that the tables have turned, have they not? I'm good to go, but how about you?"

As Kendra processed the information that Oblivion was speaking to her, she couldn't help but agree with literally every last sentence that Oblivion was saying. She did in fact feel a bit weary, and since volgor had done all of her dirty work, Oblivion was presumably at full power. Kendra's only hope now was that being fairyprime would still be enough to triumph over Oblivion. But would it be enough? Or was Oblivion speaking the truth? Nobody truly understood the full capabilities of fairyprime.

"I'm warning you," said Kendra. "Leave Fablehaven, my family and my friends alone. Now!"

"Or else what?"

Kendra had to chance it. She let energy accumulate in her hands for a moment, then raised her arms and released a multicolored beam of energy directly at Obivion.

Oblivion raised her arms in retaliation, and her entire body emitted a spherical pulse of dark energy. The force of the pulse was so great, it smacked into Kendra, causing her to cease firing her beam of energy and knocked her off the rooftop by at least fifteen feet.

Kendra flapped her wings vividly, allowing her to stay afloat. But before she could fly to safety, Oblivion shot something that best resembled a black lightning bolt directly at her. A wave of fear and darkness overcame Kendra, causing her to feel weak. She had regressed from her fairyprime form, lost her wings, and was suddenly falling.

"Kendra!" roared Raxtus, as he dove down towards the street below, catching Kendra and then Seth with his claws in mid-flight. Judging from the buildings that surrounded them, they were no more than ten stories above street level.

"Where're the others?" asked Seth, looking around worriedly.

Without answering, Raxtus shot upwards and caught up with three small fairies who were all falling, but at a slower rate than the two humans. Kendra caught two of them in her hands, while Seth caught the other. Upon closer examination, the three fairies were none other than Bright, Bracken and Warren.

"Let's get outta here!" exclaimed Raxtus. With Seth and Kendra still in his claws, he flew around the corner of another large building, and proceeded to weave his way around several other streets and skyscrapers. After a few minutes, he soon reached the north end of Manhattan, where he bolted across the Harlem river to the Bronx before finally landing on the rooftop of a building near the shore.

Once there, Raxtus set both Kendra and Seth down. Kendra felt exceptionally exhausted after the whole ordeal and was ready to collapse. Seth was a little dizzy from the flight, but otherwise felt fine.

"What happened to them?" asked Kendra, as she placed the tiny fairy versions of Bright and Bracken down next to her.

"She did it again," said Seth, placing Warren down next to the other fairies.

"I don't get it," said Kendra. "Oblivion's more powerful than we thought."

"How come you're still up and moving, Raxtus?" asked Seth. "You're a fairy dragon."

"I'm more of a dragon with fairy attributes. If anything, I'm down, but not out."

Upon close examination, the three fairies were still alive and breathing, but looked quite weary and faint, as though they were about to collapse. None of them spoke.

"These three need some serious attention," said Raxtus, exerting his healing breath upon them. "My power won't do."

"I'm guessing the Sands of Sanctity are out of the question," said Seth. "God, how could Oblivion do this to them?"

"She's a misguided fairy. Would've been happier if she had just ended up as an imp. But enough of her. I've gotta get you all back to Fablehaven."

Kendra patted Bright, Bracken and Warren gently, then removed her pack from her back. She opened up a pouch and deposited the three of them inside of it. She zipped it up, but left it open a crack for air to flow through, then threw the straps back over her shoulders.

Kendra and Seth then climbed onto Raxtus' back, and the dragon took off once again, flying towards the direction of Fablehaven.

After a while, Raxtus finally made it back to Fablehaven, where he descended down into the yard, landing in front of the house. Seth and Kendra immediately dismounted from the dragon.

"Clover!" shouted Kendra, stepping into the garden, where several fairies where currently flittering about. "We need you! It's an emergency!"

Clover appeared from the garden and fluttered over to the group. What happened? Where are Warren and the others?"

"Inside," said Seth. "It's warmer in there!"

"Thank you, Raxtus," said Kendra, as she and Seth went inside with Clover and the others. They went into the living room and Seth opened his bag, removing the three fairies from it. They all appeared to be quite tuckered out.

"It happened again!" gasped Clover.

"It's a good thing you didn't come along," said Kendra, arranging the three near-motionless fairies on the floor in front of her. "You can heal them, right?"

Clover nodded. "I hope so."

Clover then held her hands out and exerted a beam of green light down upon the smaller fairies. "I'm no Fairy Queen, but they should be all right."

"Clover, I realize that green is your color, but why not try one of those rainbows?" asked Seth. "They seem to be more powerful."

"They are. But regrettably, only royal fairies possess that level of power."

At that point, Warren, Bright and Bracken grew back to their full sizes, all looking fairly dazed and confused.

"What happened?" asked Bracken, shaking his head.

"I'd be interested in knowing as well," said Grandpa, who was standing at the entrance to the living room along with the rest of the family.

"Can it wait?" asked Warren. "I feel so weak."

"You three need rest," said Grandma. "Dale, please escort them upstairs. They can sleep in the guest bedroom and the den for now."

Dale looked down at the weakened fairies, then grabbed Warren off of the floor and lifted him up over his shoulders.

"I'll help with the others," said Clover, as she waved her hands and used her magic to levitate Bright and Bracken into the air, then directed them up the stairs, following behind. Dale sighed and went up the staircase after Clover.

"This is terrible," said Grandpa, who had sat down in one of the armchairs. He was resting his head on one hand, the elbow of which was propped up on the armrest.

"Will they be all right?" asked Seth.

"Bracken recovered yesterday," replied Grandma. "I'm sure they'll all be fine by the end of the day.

"What are we supposed to do now?" asked Kendra. "We didn't accomplish anything. Oblivion is still out there, and even my fairyprime form wasn't powerful enough to defeat her."

"Let's start from the beginning," said Grandpa. "How did you all arrive at where you are now?"

Kendra and Seth told everyone of their experience at Dynabridge, and how while Kendra was able to defeat the volgor by becoming fairyprime, her power still was not great enough to trounce Oblivion.

"If what Oblivion told you is to be believed," said Grandpa, "then her power may actually rival Kendra's. The power she stole from Kendra is the same power that was originally blessed upon her by hundreds of fairies."

"Are you sure?" asked Seth.

"Absolutely not. I'm basing this entirely on conjecture. I have no idea as to what Oblivion's true capacity even is."

"It's like we accomplished nothing," said Kendra. "Oblivion's still out there, and to go after her again at this point would be suicide."

"It wasn't a total loss," said Seth. "We did manage to defeat that stupid volgor."

Grandpa sighed. "While I'm grateful that you were all victorious, getting ahold of that volgor in the first place was no doubt within Oblivion's capacity. Its defeat likely did not come at a huge burden to her."

"I've got an idea. "Let's let Kendra go fairyprime again. Only this time, we get everyone to help. Oblivion may be strong, but there has to be a limit to her power. Right?"

"I'd advise against that," said Clover, who had returned from upstairs along with Dale. "The fairies know about what happened with Bracken yesterday. "And soon they'll learn about what went on today. None of the fairies here at Fablehaven are going to want to help you become fairypirme. You saw what happened to Warren, Bright and Clover. Had small fairies been in their place, they likely would've turned into imps."

"Oblivion said that I only defeated her the last time because she had exhausted a lot of her power bringing Tritanoss. If we go head to head at full power, who's to say I'll triumph?"

"What about when you stopped Navarog?" asked Seth.

"Navarog wasn't himself, because he was partially _you_," said Clover.

"Tritanoss?"

"Technically that was Ashley, not the real deal."

"Khaarupt?"

"The Fairy Queen helped. And she wouldn't approve of this anyway. Fairyprime is extremely powerful, but it's not a universal problem solver. Especially when too many fairies either can't or won't agree to help."

"Look, if it comes down to an all-or-nothing situation, Kendra could always order the fairies to help..."

"No!" yelled Kendra. "That's just wrong and you know it."

"I get it," said Seth. "Grandpa, are the other Knights having any luck with their mission?"

"I'm afraid not," said Grandpa. "They're looking for evidence, but have found nothing. We've been talking to our lawyers and while it doesn't take a professional to realize that this is foul play, there isn't a whole lot we can do about it. Hopefully we can settle this matter in court."

"The hearing is tomorrow," said Kendra. "What else could go wrong?"

Grandpa took in a deep breath. "Not that we are in need of any more commotion. But there's still the matter of the upcoming festival night. Tomorrow is Midwinter's Eve."


	12. Courting Disaster

**Chapter 12: Courting Disaster**

For the remainder of the day, Kendra and Seth both felt as though an imminent danger was approaching. As though a time bomb was set to go off and there was nothing they could do to prevent it. The government had summoned them to court over the legality of the land that Fablehaven was occupying. There had to be some way of proving that the land was rightfully theirs.

Dinnertime came and went. Although Warren, Bright and Bracken had all fully recovered from earlier, it did little to take anybody's mind off the fact that if things did not work out in their favor, it could mark the beginning of the end of Fablehaven.

Grandpa was in his study, speaking with his lawyer over the phone. Grandma, Kendra, Seth, Warren, Dale and Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson were all there with him as well, either sitting in an armchair, on the floor, or standing.

"Thank you, Harvey," said Grandpa to the man on the phone. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

"Any luck?" asked Grandma.

"He's pretty confident that this whole ordeal is completely unorthodox. One day is legally not enough time in which one can be summoned to court like this."

"This whole thing is clearly Oblivion's doing," said Mr. Sorenson. "If she took control of people at Dynabridge, then taking control of government officials is just as likely."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" asked Grandma. "If we go to court tomorrow, Oblivion will know that we're coming and will no doubt have set up a trap for us. And if she's in control of say... the judge, nothing we say or do will even matter. The whole thing seems like a deathtrap."

"Part of me wishes we had a stingbulb to send in place of me. But they're so rare."

"Yeah, it's a shame they don't just grow on trees," said Seth.

"I'm not in the mood for that. Being the legal owner of Fablehaven, I'm the only one who's been summoned to court. The rest of you aren't obligated to come."

"But what will you do if you get assaulted there?" asked Kendra. "The courtroom is not a battlefield. You can't just fight back."

"I will see to it that Bright and Clover watch over me," said Grandpa. "Along with anyone else who agrees to come along. The fairy angels will stay out of sight will come to my aid in case of an emergency."

"I want to come," said Seth.

"Me too," said Kendra.

"I'm not confident about having you two tagging along," said Grandpa. "Oblivion has displayed an interest in both of you. I don't want to put either of you in jeopardy by bringing you to court where you'd be an easy target for her."

"But, this place is our home too," said Kendra.

"I'm sorry, but the less that you two get involved with all of this, the better. Ruth and Warren will accompany me to court tomorrow. Scott and Marla, you are welcome to join us if you wish."

"Can't we come with you?" asked Seth.

"Sorry, but my mind is made up. There is no need for you to get involved in this. I appreciate your concern, but I do not feel that this is safe."

"Couldn't they..." began Warren.

"Out of the question. Now, I ask that the rest of us all go up to bed. We have a big day tomorrow and we'll need to be up bright and early."

Everyone then left the study. Seth and Kendra proceeded upstairs and ventured into their own bedrooms. Seth looked at his bedside clock. It wasn't even seven thirty, and already Grandpa had wanted everyone to retire for the night.

Alas, going to sleep probably wasn't such a bad idea. After all, he wasn't in the mood to keep himself occupied for several more hours until his bedtime. Seth changed into his pyjamas and sat on his bed, pondering about the whole situation regarding Oblivion.

After some time, Seth heard someone knocking on his door. Curious, he got up and opened it. Warren was standing there.

"I've got an idea," he said in a low voice. "Up to the attic."

Seth followed Warren up to the attic, where he knocked on the door.

"Come in," said Kendra from the other side, Prompting Warren and Seth to enter. Kendra was sitting in her bed, but like her brother, was in no mood to sleep.

"I had an idea. You two can tag along with the fairies tomorrow."

"How?" asked Kendra. "Grandpa forbid it."

"I spoke to Clover and Bright about everything. If you want to come along tomorrow, you can hide along with the fairies in my handbag."

"We could?" asked Seth. "Cool."

"But we'll get in trouble."

Seth and Warren both chuckled. "Don't worry," said Warren. "Dale's the only adult who isn't going, and I discussed this with him. He's cool with it. Tomorrow, right before we leave, you two will accompany us."

"What help will we be in a bag?" asked Kendra.

"You can sense things the rest of us can't."

Kendra nodded. "All right."

"Good. See you in the morning."

* * *

The next morning, both Kendra and Seth had been woken up by Warren at six o'clock. Apparently, the other adults were content with letting them sleep in, but they had to wake up on time if they wanted to come along.

"How come you two are both up?" asked Grandpa once his two grandchildren approached him. He was sitting at the dining room table with the rest of the adults, eating a piece of toast for breakfast.

"All the commotion woke us up," said Kendra.

"As long as you're up, you might as well eat something," said Grandma.

After breakfast, all of the adults were scrambling while getting ready to leave. The men had to shave. Women had to apply makeup. Everyone was looking for the right things to wear. Kendra and Seth had both gotten dressed during the whole kerfuffle.

Eventually, everyone had gathered in the foyer. Grandpa, Grandma, Warren and Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson were all dressed up formally, although they all had on winter coats over their clothes.

"We'll try to get everything sorted out," said Mrs. Sorenson, giving each of her children a hug.

"Goodbye, kids," said Grandpa, as he headed out the door. "Bye, Dale."

The group then walked out the door, leaving only Kendra, Seth and Dale.

"Uh, where was us cue?" asked Seth.

Before Kendra could respond, the two siblings noticed that Dale was suddenly getting even taller.

"What's going on?" asked Seth.

"We're shrinking," said Kendra.

"Surprise," said Bright, as she and Clover, who were in their diminutive states, flew over to Seth and Kendra. They were now all no larger than a few inches high.

The front door suddenly opened and Warren entered. "Ready?" he asked, lowering his shoulder bag to the floor. Without responding, Kendra, Seth, Bright and Clover all entered. The black bag had little standing room, and was empty and dark, save for a dark mesh-like covering on one side from which the occupants could look into the outside world. Warren zipped up the bag and lifted it up over his shoulder.

"I hope you win," said Dale, as Warren walked out the door.

Kendra and Seth watched through the covering as Warren carried them over to Grandpa's SUV. He climbed in and sat in the back seat by himself, then placed the bag on the floor of the seat next to him. Once Warren had buckled his seatbelt, Grandpa started the engine and proceeded to drive off.

The car ride was rather lengthy and unremarkable. While the full-sized riders of the car were able to talk to each other, mostly about the whole ordeal, the passengers in the bag had to keep a low profile. Warren didn't even act as though he knew they were there.

After well over an hour had passed, the car came to a stop and Grandpa stopped the engine. Everybody got out and Warren picked up his bag. They appeared to now be in an indoor parking lot.

The group left the parking lot and began walking along a sidewalk in a downtown locale, presumably in Hartford, where the hearing was said to take place. They then walked up to and entered a courthouse.

"Stanley!" said an unfamiliar voice. The bag was facing away from the voice, so Seth and Kendra were unable to see who it was.

"Hello Harvey," said Grandpa.

"I'm glad you're here. There's some important information we need to go over before..."

"Excuse me," said a third voice. "But now that you're all here, Judge Lewis would like to get the case underway. Now."

"But, bailiff!" said Harvey. "We've still got half an hour!"

"This is what her honor wants," said the bailiff. "Save your arguments for the case."

"You've gotta be joking," said Mr. Sorenson. "This isn't how it normally works."

"Please follow me, or I'll have you all arrested."

"This isn't right," said Kendra in a whisper."

"But we can't interrupt things_ now_," said Seth, as the group followed the bailiff into the main courtroom. "The case needs to be settled properly."

The bailiff directed Stan and Harvey to sit down at the defendants' table. Grandma, Warren and Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson sat down in the front row of the gallery behind them. Warren placed his bag in his lap, giving everyone inside a chance to look around.

The courtroom seemed rather quiet. Through the mesh, Kendra and Seth could make out several people sitting at the plaintiff table, along with the courtroom clerk and reporter. The jury booth was empty. The bailiff walked over to the judge's stand.

"All rise for the Honorable Judge Alison Lewis."

A middle-aged woman, no older than forty, entered the courtroom from her chamber. Warren left his bag on the seat as he and the others all stood up. Judge Lewis sat down.

"Please be seated," said Judge Lewis sternly, prompting everyone who was standing to sit down. "The next case for oral argument is the Federal Government of Connecticut versus Stanley Sorenson. Representing the government are four lawyers; Jack Freeman, Stephanie Lopez, Derek Timmel and Peter Reynolds. Stanley Sorenson will be represented by his lawyer, Harvey Katz. Would any of the plaintiff's lawyers care to make the opening argument?"

"I will," said one of the male lawyers. "Your honor, Stanley Sorenson and his family having been living on a piece of unidentified land for generations. Yesterday, the Dynabridge Corporation took an interest in purchasing this land, which Mr. Sorenson refused to sell."

"All right," said Judge Lewis. "Mr. Sorenson is under no obligation to sell he land if he doesn't wish to."

"But that's the problem, your honor," said the female lawyer, who had to be Stephanie Lopez. "Wanting to learn more about the value of Mr. Sorenson's land, the Dynabridge Corporation made an enquiry to the Connecticut Land Registry Office. However, the office found no record of anyone owning the aforementioned land."

"Objection, Your Honor!" said Grandpa. "I do indeed own that land! Look at this."

Grandpa presented a document envelope to the bailiff, who brought it over to Judge Lewis. The judge opened the envelope and looked over at the papers inside.

"Tax records," said Judge Lewis. "Title deed to the land. Permits. "Everything does seem to be in order."

"Your Honor," said one of the other lawyers. The Government of Connecticut has no records of these papers at all in any of its files or archives. In fact, our documents state that the land is, and always has been unowned."

"Liars!" muttered Seth under his breath.

"Just let it go," said Kendra, placing her hand on his shoulder. "We're not even supposed to be here."

Judge Lewis looked over the papers that had been presented to her. "Hmm. It appears that we have conflicting evidence. Both sides contradict one another. I'm not sure whom I should reach a verdict in favor of. Mr. Sorenson, in your defense, tell me why I should find you in favor of the land."

Grandpa cleared his throat. "Your Honor, this land has been in my family for generations. Over the years, we've developed a number of controlled, hospitable environments for all sorts of wildlife. On my land, we have local wildlife, including rabbits, deer, bears and geese. We also have more exotic animals such as horses, ocelots, peafowl and many reptiles. We also do harvesting and farming. The land is hardly wasted."

"Thank you," said Judge Lewis. "Would the plaintiff like to say anything?"

"Your Honor," said the fourth lawyer. "There is no evidence of any of Mr. Sorenson's claims on the government's end. We suspect that his family has been living on this land unnoticed for years and years, never getting caught before due solely to dumb luck. We ask that you revoke the land from him, maybe even issue a cash settlement of some sort to Mr. Sorenson as a consolation. The government can then do what they so choose with the land."

"Understood," said Judge Lewis.

"Can't I just buy the land back if I lose?" asked Grandpa directly to Harvey.

"You'd still be evicted first. Oh boy, I do not like where this is going."

"I'm going to review the case in my chamber," said Judge Lewis. "Hopefully I can reach a conclusion. There will be a half hour recess until then."

During the recess, Seth and Kendra remained in the bag along with Bright and Clover. There wasn't a whole lot they could do, except look out through the mesh as Warren walked around the courthouse, talking to family members and the lawyer. Everyone on their side spoke about the absurdity of the whole case, but didn't know what they could do if Judge Lewis went in favor of the government. Seth and Kendra noticed that Warren made a strong effort of avoiding representatives of the plaintiff's side.

After the recess, the parties all returned to the courtroom and sat down. Judge Lewis then entered from her chamber and sat down at her bench. She banged her gavel, prompting everyone to stop chatting amongst themselves.

"Order in the court!" said Judge Lewis. "After looking over all the paperwork, I have reached a conclusion. It appears that only one side has been truthful. Therefore, in the Case of the Federal Government versus Stanley Sorenson, the court finds the defendant... Guilty."

"What?" gasped Mrs. Sorenson.

"No!" said Grandma.

"Objection!" cried Grandpa.

"Overruled," said Judge Lewis.

"They can't do this!" exclaimed Kendra. "This is wrong!"

"Can't you fairies do something?" said Seth. "Make the judge change her mind!"

The two fairies suddenly vanished.

"Stanley Sorenson," said Judge Lewis, "Your documents appear to be nothing but glorified forgeries. You and your family have twenty-four hours to vacate your property."

"Twenty-four hours?" cried Stan. "But what about my belongings? My possessions? My animals? It'd take forever to transport everything."

"You can come back later to claim more belongings. In the meantime, please pack up and leave the premises. Case dismissed."

Judge Lewis banged her gavel and got up from her stand. The Fablehaven group all got up and walked out of the courtroom. Overcome by misery and regret, the group all left the courthouse made their way back to the SUV in the parking lot and got inside.

"They can't actually force us to leave, can they?" asked Mr. Sorenson, as Grandpa started the engine.

"As long as there's a distractor spell to drive off unwanted visitors, there's nothing they can do," said Grandpa, pulling out of the parking spot. "Still I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this."

"Sorry!" said Bright, as she and Clover appeared back in the bag next to Kendra and Seth. "We tried our hardest, but our magic was powerless against the judge."

Grandma sighed. "You don't need to hide, children," said Grandma. "We figured out your game. You're in Warren's bag."

Warren placed his bag on the seat and opened the zipper fully. "How'd you know?" he asked, as Seth, Kendra, Bright and Clover all crawled out of his bag onto the backseat.

"We overheard you whispering during the trial," said Grandma. "Be glad that no one else did."

"You're not in trouble," said Grandpa. "But _we_ certainly are."

Bright and Clover then used their magic to enlarge Kendra and Seth back to their proper sizes. They then buckled up in the two seats next to Warren.

"At least Oblivion didn't take advantage of the situation to attack or harm us," said Seth.

"She didn't have to," said Grandpa. "She rigged this dumb trial just so that she could _legally_ get us off the property."

"What are you going to do?" asked Kendra,

"Well, the government can try all they like, but it's virtually impossible for them to get past the distractor spell protecting Fablehaven. Our best option may just be to just remain on the property, perhaps indefinitely."

"But what about the outside world?" asked Seth. "We can just remain on Fablehaven for the rest of our lives."

"Believe me," said Grandpa. "The last thing I want to do is get into serious trouble with the government. Unfortunately, that seems to have already started."

"Then what exactly are we supposed to do now?" asked Warren.

"As long as Oblivion is out there, she can manipulate the mind anybody she wants to. She did so with Dynabridge. She did so with the government. And she did so with the judge. As long as she's controlling everybody, we'll never get the better of her."

"Then we need to devise a plan," said Warren. "We need to track down Oblivion and stop her, once and for all."

"But how?" asked Kendra. "She's gotten very powerful and with no response from the Occulus, we have no way of tracking her down. And once the police come to evict us, we won't even be able to leave Fablehaven using the Translocator."

"I'll see to it that other Knights of the Dawn can help us out of this predicament," said Grandpa. "But for now, I don't know what do about this mess."


	13. Fablehaven's Last Stand

**Chapter 13: Fablehaven's Last Stand**

The car ride home felt quite depressing and was rife with melancholy. Nobody knew what they could do at this point, nor were they in any sort of mood to talk about it.

By the time the car pulled up in front of the house at Fablehaven, everybody had worked up an appetite. Grandma and Mrs. Sorenson went to the kitchen, but were in no mood to cook anything. Instead, they just whipped up a bunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone, not even bothering to cut the sandwiches into two halves.

Seth and Kendra ate their sandwiches, if only to satisfy their desire to eat. Although they normally enjoyed peanut butter and jelly, today's sandwiches were essentially tasteless, despite the fact that there was nothing wrong with the ingredients.

After lunch, Seth and Kendra tried to come up with a solution to the whole predicament, but were unable to come up with anything. In the interim, Grandpa spent the next few hours making phone calls, while Grandma, Dale and Warren travelled around the preserve.

Kendra and Seth were walking around the garden. Although numerous fairies were floating about, the two siblings were too fixated on the problem at hand to pay them any attention.

"Hey there!" said Newel, sounding rather laid back and relaxed. He walked up to Seth and Kendra alongside Doren.

"Hi guys," said Seth sullenly.

"We heard the news," said Doren. "But what are you all worried about? We're safe within the confines of Fablehaven."

"We can't live our lives as fugitives," said Kendra. "It's complicated. You satyrs wouldn't understand."

"We got everything we need right here," said Newel. "As far as I'm concerned, Fablehaven can exist on its own, without the outside world."

"What about Twinkies?" asked Seth. "Or Cheetos? Or cherry cola? All those come from the outside world."

"He does have a point," said Doren.

"How long do you think our stash will last us?" asked Newel.

"Depends how hungry we get."

"Look, hopefully this whole mess will get settled soon," said Kendra.

"It better," said Doren.

"Will you two be okay during the festival tonight?" asked Seth.

"Of course we will," said Newel. "We could use the uproar. Things have been pretty boring around here for weeks."

"Mind you, some of the creatures saw a moose on the loose the other night." said Doren.

"How very exciting," said Newel sarcastically. Kendra rolled her eyes.

"Hey, let's go check our stash, Newel. We might have to start divvying up our food evenly."

Newel and Doren then waved goodbye and darted off towards their home.

"Come on, Kendra," said Seth. "Maybe we can dig up some information on this situation, either on the internet or the news. Let's go to my room and see what we can find."

Seth and Kendra went back inside the house and up to Seth's room. Due to Grandpa's innate aversion to modern technology, Seth's television set was the only one in the house. Seth's computer wasn't the only one in the building; Mr. Sorenson had his own computer for work purposes.

"Are you sure that there's going to be coverage of this case of TV?" asked Kendra, sitting on the foot of Seth's bed and turning on the TV with the remote.

"Wouldn't hurt to check," said Seth, as he booted up his computer. "There's gotta be something about all of this in the news."

Kendra began flipping through the channels on the TV, stopping to check out stations such as CNN that were broadcasting news. She was able to find reports on a multitude of subjects, including a speech about the school system given by the President, a flood in Bangladesh and conflict in the Middle East.

"There's been no discussion about business from what I can tell," said Kendra.

"I'm looking at business stories right now," said Seth. "I'll do a search for Dynabridge and see if anything comes up."

Seth entered some data into a search engine, but found nothing about Dynabridge's attempted purchase of Fablehaven, nor was he able to find anything about the court case."

"Since Dynabridge didn't actually buy anything, maybe you won't find any information in the business section."

"The court case should be big news," said Seth, reading a list of postings on a news website. "But I can't find anything!"

Without warning, both the TV and computer suddenly shut off.

"What gives?"

"Power outage," said Kendra, repeatedly hitting the power button the the TV remote, only to get no response.

"I hope we didn't blow a fuse," said Seth. "But I've had my TV and computer both on lots of times."

"Anyone else lose power?" asked Mr. Sorenson from down the hall.

Kendra and Seth went out in the hall and met up with their father.

"Why'd the power go out?" asked Seth.

"Sabotage?" asked Kendra.

"Yes," said Grandpa, walking up to the others from the stairs to the first floor. "And no. While I do have reason to believe that Oblivion is behind this power outage, I don't believe the wires were actually damaged. She likely ordered the power company to wrongly shut off service to our home."

"But you had twenty-four hours," said Seth.

"Tell that to someone who cares," said Kendra.

The four of them walked downstairs, only to run into Mrs. Sorenson storming out of the kitchen. "Oh, this is just great I had a roast cooking in the oven, and without any power, I can't even use the stove!"

"Is power out for the entire house?" asked Seth.

"Presumably. I'm not sure how the power lines could've been damaged. They're all deep underground. But I'll check the fuse box just to be certain."

Grandpa walked off into another room, then returned a minute later.

"Everything seems to be in order," said Grandpa, returning to the others in the entry hall. "But there's just no power coming through to the house."

"It's starting to get dark," said Mrs. Sorenson, looking out a window. "Won't be long until the festival night begins."

"That reminds me," said Seth. "Before the power outage, we tried to find information about this whole ordeal on my TV and online, but had no such luck."

"I had no luck finding anything online myself," said Mr. Sorenson. "If Oblivion's using people as puppets, she's trying to keep this whole thing as low profile as possible."

Seth and Kendra hung out with their parents and Grandpa in the living room for the next little while. As long as the power was out, Mrs. Sorenson couldn't do much in the way of cooking. Eventually they heard someone knock on the door precisely five times.

"That must be Raxtus," said Grandpa. "Let him in."

Seth got up and opened the front door. Although they were too large to enter through the doorway, Raxtus and Geminus were standing on the front porch with Vanessa.

"Come in," said Seth.

Raxtus shrunk down to his small human form, while Geminus transformed into a fairy. Raxtus held onto Vanessa's claw and directed the hatchling into the house.

"Thanks," said Geminus, as Seth closed the door behind them.

A few minutes later, Grandma, Warren and Dale entered through the front door.

"We told the news to every creature we could find," said Grandma. "Glad we were able to get back in time."

"We've lost power," said Mr. Sorenson.

"Now we'll never get to watch a scary movie tonight," said Warren.

"Where are Bright and Clover?" asked Grandpa. "I invited them to spend the night inside."

"Won't they turn into imps?" asked Seth.

"Don't you remember the autumn festival?" asked Kendra. "Fairy angels aren't affected by that sort of power."

"Well, wherever they are, we should probably close the curtains," said Grandma. "The sun's almost down."

Although most of the blinds and curtains in the house had been lowered earlier in the day, the ones in the living room had not. Once they had been taken care of, Mrs. Sorenson directed everyone but Raxtus, Geminus and Vanessa into the dining room. Candles and lanterns were being used to illuminate the room.

"I couldn't cook anything, but I've made sandwiches and there's also cereal."

"Hear that?" asked Warren. "Outside."

From beyond the walls, everyone could hear howling and maniacal laughter seeping into the house.

"They're here," said Kendra.

"Even if they weren't, where were we going to go?" asked Seth.

Kendra and Seth helped themselves to some ham salad sandwiches that their mother had prepared, trying to divert their focus away from the sounds that were coming from the outside.

"We can't keep living like this indefinitely," said Mrs. Sorenson. "What are we going to do for power?"

"Look, if we can figure out a safe way to get on and off the property, we could potentially sustain ourselves," said Warren. "But ultimately, we need to stop this hullabaloo at its source."

Suddenly, by complete surprise, Bright and Clover magically appeared in the living room. With them was Bracken, who was in his unicorn form. All three of them looked just as frazzled as everyone else in the house. Vanessa, who was sitting near where the trio had appeared with her parents, started to cry.

"What is the meaning of this?" exclaimed Grandpa, who had dropped his glass out of shock, spilling juice on the table.

"Sorry, but we'd rather not use the door at this time," said Clover.

"You ever been _outside_ during one of those festival nights?" asked Bracken, as he transformed back into a human. "It was wild."

"What on Earth were you three doing out there?" asked Dale. "You could've been killed!"

"Not too many of the dangerous creatures can fly. Anyway, we spoke about the situation to my mother. She said that you're welcome to use the fairy shrine to travel between here and the Fairy Kingdom. And since the shrine at Wyrmroost was completed, you can always travel there."

"That's very considerate of her," said Grandpa. "Mind you, Wyrmroost is far and hardly safe, but it's something."

"Can't be any worse than one of these festival nights," said Raxtus.

"Well thank you," said Grandma. "It does sound like a viable option."

"I'm sorry that there aren't more functional shrines," said Bracken. "I've already contributed to two, but now that Shiara's a fairy angel, she's agreed to help with the workload, giving me some time to kick back."

"We also had another idea," said Bright. "Why not just tunnel out of here? If the tunnel is long enough, you can get by the people who're outside the gate.

"Well, it's not viable during the festival," said Grandpa. "I'd take some preparation, but with the right creatures on the job... Wait, what people?"

"There's a bunch of cars sitting outside the main gate," said Bracken. "They have these flashing lights on them. Would've like to have seen more, but there's too much commotion going on with the festival night."

"The police?" asked Grandma.

"That's what they're called?" asked Clover.

"I don't like this," said Grandpa, getting out of his chair. "I'm going to call Trask on my cell phone. I've been working closely with him, but he's staying at a hotel tonight because of the festival. I'll ask him to check out the surrounding area and find out what's going on."

"What can we do?"

"Right now?" asked Grandma. "Nothing. So long as it's a festival night, it would be foolish to attempt to leave the house. The police _do_ concern us, but with the protector spell around Fablehaven, they can't enter the property."

After making his phone call to Trask, Grandpa ordered everyone in the house to stay put and remain calm. Trask had told Grandpa that he was on his way and would be there as soon as he could. Although it was still fairly early, Kendra and Seth had both been asked to go up to the attic for the rest of the night. Despite having his own separate room, Seth was still encouraged to stay in the attic on festival nights.

Both of them were still wearing their daytime attire. Kendra was lying on her bed, while Seth was on his cot. They were too overstimulated to sleep, yet too paranoid to keep themselves preoccupied with any sort of activity.

"I really want to see what's going on out there," said Seth, looking up at the window, which had been blocked by the curtain."

"Don't you dare."

"I just want to look out to the edge of the property," said Seth. "I'll pay no attention to the creatures."

"Stop tempting yourself. Grandpa said Trask is out investigating."

"It won't be like that other time. The creatures won't bother me now. I'm immune to magical fear."

"I can get Bright up here very easily. Want to spend the night as a goldfish?"

Before Seth could respond, he and Kendra were alarmed by a noise that came from outside. It didn't sound like any sort of animal. It sounded more like a loud machine.

"What was that?" asked Kendra. "No way the creatures could pull off something like that."

"Well if somebody would let me look outside..."

"Let's just ignore it. There's enough chaos going on as it is."

The loud sounds continued for another minute or so, as Warren barged in through the door without even knocking.

"What's happening?" asked Kendra.

"You need to get downstairs, now!" said Warren. "It's an emergency."

"Is this a trick?" asked Seth. "How do we know you're the real Warren?"

"An imposter wouldn't have been able to open the door," said Kendra. "What's going on?"

"We just got word from Trask. Not only are the police outside, but so's the army!"

"What?" asked Seth.

"The army?" muttered Kendra. "But, why?"

"Oblivion, somehow," stated Warren. "Those loud sounds you probably heard are actually fighter jets. Stan wants you downstairs now. Forget about the monsters. Just come."

"Fighter jets?" asked Seth.

"Forget it!" shouted Kendra and Warren in unison.

They ventured downstairs to the living room, where everybody had gathered around Grandpa, who was still on the phone with Trask.

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Kendra, sitting down on the couch. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and she was dreading to hear more about what Trask had to report.

"The army has blocked off the access road around Fablehaven," said Grandma. "Jeeps and tanks are everywhere. But they're not giving him much information. He can only tell us what he currently knows."

"What exactly are these fighter jets capable of?" asked Seth.

"They're loaded with weapons," said Warren. "And while the pilots can't cross it, there's nothing that could stop those weapons from shooting into Fablehaven from afar."

"You mean they could get us from where they are now?" asked Seth.

Everyone else in the room nodded in response.

"Oblivion's come this far already," said Grandma. "She took us all by surprise. I can't say how she pulled it off, but she's already taken control of a powerful company, the judicial system and now the military."

"If she was going to go through all this trouble, why not just go straight to the military?" asked Seth.

"To make the strike seem more plausible," said Warren. "She purposely started off trying to buy this land through Dynabridge, then got the government involved with the whole unowned land story, followed by the military."

"But we can't stop her," said Kendra. "She could be anywhere controlling any number of people."

"And if Oblivion's demands to attack Fablehaven make it to the jet pilots, they'll be willing to follow the orders of a superior under her control," said Grandma.

"We may have to make a break for it," said Bracken.

"But we can't just run outside into the festival!" cried Mrs. Sorenson.

"Would you rather be inside when the house gets blown up?" asked Warren.

"We can't increase the strength of the protector spell," said Grandma. "I would if I could, but it can't possibly go beyond the limits of Fablehaven."

Grandpa put his hand over the mouthpiece of his phone. "Trask said the military is going to fire on us in twenty minutes!"

"We're doomed!" gasped Seth. "We don't have enough time!"

At that point, Warren's face lit up. "Wait a minute. We've got all the time we want! We have a time machine!"

Seth smiled. "You're right. The Chronometer..."

"Which probably won't even work right because of that spell that's blocking the Occulus and the Translocator," said Grandma.

"We don't know how it'll work," said Warren. "And at this point, we should at least try it."

"But what if it sends you to the wrong time?" asked Grandma.

"If that's the case," said Seth, "then we'll end up a point in the past when the spell won't be in effect yet. From there, we can just use the Chronometer like normal and get to the right time."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Grandma. "We're don't fully understand the complexities of time travel. You may end up making things worse."

"Worse?" questioned Seth.

"Look, as long as we go back in time, we can try to figure out a way to prevent all of this from happening," said Warren. "We're not going to go too far, just a couple of days so that we can stop Jake taking control of Marla and Kendra in the first place. If the Chronometer doesn't work at all, we'll be no worse off than we are now."

"Well, that's assuring," said Seth.

"At this point, a risk like this is starting to sound like a good idea," said Bracken.

Grandma placed her hands to her face and sighed. All right. It seems as though we are out of options, as well as time. I'll go get the Chronometer."


	14. Out of Time

**Chapter 14: Out of Time**

Everyone waited as Grandma left the living room and scurried all the way upstairs to the attic. Although she knew exactly where to find the Chronometer, it still took time to open the locked door in her bedroom, go up to the secret part of the attic, retrieve the artifact and bring it back downstairs.

Less than two minutes had passed once Grandma returned holding the Chronometer in her hands. She then placed the golden sphere down on the coffee table for everyone to see.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"I've done a little... experimenting with this thing," said Warren. "Nothing major. I've gone back in time a bit, but I've always done it briefly in quiet areas. I touch nothing, and nobody's ever spotted me, so I couldn't have possibly done any harm. But I do have a good understanding of how to operate it. I even discovered how to send the Chronometer back in time with me, so we can travel more freely."

"The question is," said Grandpa. "Who will travel into the past with Warren?"

"I should go," said Kendra. "My abilities might come in handy."

Seth raised his hand, as did Bright, Clover, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus.

"We can't all go," said Kendra. "The Chronometer has a five-users-at-once limitation."

"Not anymore," said Grandpa. "When the Fairy Queen agreed to create these duplicate instruments for us, I asked her to remove the Chronometer's user cap, like she did with the Translocator."

"All right," said Grandpa. "Normally I wound never condone resorting to this, but I don't see any other choice. "Warren, you are to travel back in time with Kendra, Seth, Bright, Clover, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus. You will go back to this past Saturday and intercept Jake's plan. By doing so, you will not only prevent Kendra and Marla from getting caught, but Oblivion will have never been restored, thus avoiding all this trouble."

"Messing with history could prove disastrous," said Grandma. "Also, it might even be impossible to change the past."

"Can't be any worse than what's about to go on here," said Seth. "Warren, let's roll."

"Get ready," said Warren, as he started fidgeting with the buttons and dials on the Chronometer. "Everyone who's coming needs to be touching the Chronometer now."

Seth, Kendra, Bracken, Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus all touched the Chronometer, as Warren flipped a final switch.

Kendra and Seth felt as though they were being squeezed with excessive force, as though something Hugo was trying to hug them. Both of them could barely breathe, and they collapsed to the floor.

The air around Kendra and Seth felt different. They were no longer in the living room at Fablehaven. Although it had been winter just moments ago, they were now outside, in broad daylight, and were completely naked.

"What the..." asked Seth, covering his lower area with his hands. He caught a quick glimpse of Warren and Bracken, and saw that even as full-grown humans, they possessed fairy wings. He then turned his attention to Bright and Clover.

"Yeah, this is something about the Translocator I _don't_ care for," said Warren, as Raxtus, Geminus and Bracken all assumed their dragon and unicorn forms.

Bright and Clover waved their hands. Their magic caused clothes to suddenly appear on themselves, Seth, Kendra and Warren. While the fairies sported their usual dresses, Kendra, Seth and Warren appeared to be wearing homemade garments made of smooth silk. They felt surprisingly comfortable.

"They're not your everyday clothes," said Bright, "but they should do."

"They're wonderful," said Kendra, admiring her pink gown that was trimmed with lace. "Thank you."

"Where are we?" asked Seth.

"_When_ are we is more like it," said Kendra. "Warren, what happened?"

Warren studied the Chronometer he was holding. "This isn't good. I'm positive that I set the Chronometer to the correct time. Why it brought us to this time..."

"Oblivion's spell," said Bright. "That has to be it."

"It messed up the Translocator," said Bracken. "Except, rather than incorrectly spatially displacing us, the Chronometer incorrectly temporally displaced us.

"More like _mis_-placed us," said Seth. "What is this place anyway?"

"The Chronometer retains your location whenever you use it," said Warren. "We're at Fablehaven. Before there even _will_ be a Fablehaven."

"That's our other question," said Geminus. "When in time are we, anyway?"

"I don't know," said Warren. "I'm positive that I had the Chronometer set to the correct date. With Oblivion's spell in effect, it made that point meaningless."

"Wait," said Seth. "Who cares when this is? We escaped from the present, right? I mean, if we use the Translocator now to travel forward in time to the Saturday that we wanted to go to in the first place, there won't be any stupid spell to stop us."

"He's got a point," said Clover. "Warren, let's try the Chronometer again."

"Even though it didn't work, the coordinates still seem to be set for the Saturday before we left" said Warren, closely examining the Chronometer. "When you're ready, place your hand on the Chronometer."

Everyone complied to Warren's request, while Raxtus, Geminus and Bracken reverted back from their creature forms as they would presumably arrive in the living room back at Fablehaven on the so-called _previous_ Saturday.

Warren flicked the switch that would normally trigger the time-travelling function of the Chronometer, but nothing happened.

"What's wrong with this stupid thing?" asked Seth, as Warren fiddled with the switch repeatedly.

"I... I don't know," said Warren. I've always been able to use the Chronometer freely in the past. Which I guess is probably the future."

"You mean the Chronometer isn't working?" asked Kendra, as everyone removed their hand from the artifact.

"Using it to bypass Oblivion's spell must've screwed it up. It's hurled us into the wrong time and now it's refusing to work at all."

"In other words, we're stuck in the past!" gasped Seth.

"We've gotta get back!" exclaimed Raxtus, who had switched back to his creature form along with Geminus and Bracken. "We're needed in our own time!"

"But the Chronometer isn't working!" said Geminus.

"It's not a total loss," said Bracken. "Now there's no Oblivion to worry about."

"Think we could fix the Chronometer?" asked Clover, placing her hand on Warren's shoulder.

"No. The damage isn't physical, and none of us are savvy enough to understand the workings of this thing."

"Wait a moment," said Kendra. "The Chronometer has a thirty minute time limit, does it not. When it expires, maybe it'll transport us back to when we left."

"Two problems with that theory," said Bright. "One: It's not working properly, or at all. And two: Even if it _can_ return us to when we left, we'd still be doomed. And that's a big _if_."

"It's worth a try," said Warren. "We haven't been here very long, but we'll try to guess when half an hour has passed. If the Chronometer does nothing then, it probably is no doubt broken."

"Bet it won't work," said Seth reluctantly. "Say. As long as we're waiting, why not check this place out a bit. See what it's like."

"Don't go far. If the Chronometer _does_ send us back to our time, we need to be at the same spot from which we arrived."

"Look, I'm not going to go far. Just to those trees over there!" Seth pointed to a grove of trees in the distance. "This place doesn't resemble Fablehaven in the least."

Seth ran off to the grove he had been pointing at. The grass was long and weedy, hard to efficiently run through. From what Seth could gather, he was running towards where the barn would be located in the present. The _yard_ had no distinguishing features. There was no garden. No pool. Trees and rocks were arranged completely differently than normal.

As Seth looked into the grove, he then saw what looked like a small, bipedal dragon, bigger than Raxtus or Geminus, about one-hundred feet in front of him.

"Cool!" said Seth, calling back to the group. "We must still be at Fablehaven, just before the house was built! I see a dragon!"

At that point, thedragon noticed what was going on and came running up towards Seth. Startled, Seth turned around and ran back to the group.

"We must be on his territory!" said Seth. "He wants to get me!"

Soon enough, the _dragon_ caught up with the group. Standing at over twice the size of Raxtus and sporting a much longer body, the tyrannosaurus rex ran up to the group, stopping a few yards away from them.

Sporting greenish-brown skin and an intimidating set of ravenous teeth, the dinosaur looked over at the group, sniffing them.

"Crazy," said Kendra. "I've seen all sorts of magical creatures, but this is still impressive."

"Some dragon," said Raxtus. "He looks _really_ weird."

"Must be an ancestor of yours," said Geminus.

The tyrannosaurus let out a violent roar that best resembled an elephant blowing its trunk, and quickly lunged its head towards Bright, who barely managed to avoid getting clamped by its jaws.

"You stupid thing!" said Raxtus, leaping into the air and onto the dinosaur's backside. It began stumbling around, trying to shake the fairy dragon off of its back.

Geminus then leapt onto the tyrannosaur rex's neck and placed her claws over its eyes, aggravating it even further. It continued to roar fiercely.

"Don't hurt it!" exclaimed Warren. "It's just an animal! _We're_ the ones who're not supposed to be here!"

"Let me try something," said Bright. She quickly held her hands forward and released a rainbow of sparkles at the tyrannosaurus rex's face. The dinosaur responded with a weak roar, then collapsed onto the ground. It had fallen asleep.

"Wow," said Bright, as Raxtus and Geminus crawled off of the dinosaur. "I didn't think a creature like that would fall asleep so easily."

"Well, for one thing, it's not magical," said Warren. "And secondly, don't let its size fool you. Dinosaurs

have very small brains."

"He'll be out for at least an hour," said Bright. "That's more than enough time then we need."

Seth held up his hands, looking at the rest of his companions. "Please don't take your anger out on me. I didn't know this would happen. I mean, that T. rex could've found us even if I hadn't been exploring."

"It's all right," said Kendra. "But don't run off like that again."

"Look, we should probably just stay where we are now," said Clover. "If we need to be in this spot, let's just wait it out."

"Understood," said Seth. "I learned my lesson."

The group sat down at the point from which they arrived, not too far away from the slumbering tyrannosaurus rex. Undergrowth brushed up against their backsides. From somewhere up in the sky, birds could be heard cawing, much like eagles.

"How long has it been?" asked Seth.

"Well, it's not like my watch came with me," said Warren. "But it's probably been about five minutes so far."

"I just wish we could've seen more!" said Seth. "Up until I learned about magical creatures, I was fascinated with dinosaurs. I thought they were so great because they were actually real, even if they were extinct. I know now that things like dragons, unicorns and fairies are real too, but back when I didn't know any better, I thought dinosaurs were epic!"

"Even Barney," said Kendra with a smirk.

"I was talking about the _cool _kind of dinosaurs."

Warren nodded. "I was brought up with knowledge of magical creatures, so I never became overly obsessed with dinosaurs like many kids do. However, I did learn quite a bit about them while studying dragons. And I have to say, that T. rex was still pretty cool. For a non-magical creature, that is."

"Warren," said Geminus, pointing towards the sky. "What are those?"

"They look like wyverns," said Raxtus.

Kendra and Seth looked up, and saw a group of perhaps twenty pterosaurs flying down from the sky in their direction.

"I think those are... pterosaurs," said Warren. "Not as bad as wyverns, but not much better than a T. rex. They must've heard the T. rex roaring!"

"We've gotta stop 'em!" said Clover, as the pterosaurs soared closer towards the group.

Bright and Clover then held hands. Using their outer hands, they combined their magic and unleashed a rainbow into the air at the approaching creatures. It did nothing to impede their flight.

"They may be predatory, but they're not creatures of darkness," said Warren. "That won't work!"

The pterosaurs, who were easily the size of giraffes, reached the group at a high speed. Kendra, Seth, Warren, Bright and Clover all got scooped up within the talons up the oncoming creatures.

Kendra struggled to push out against the powerful talon muscles of the pterosaur who was flying off with her, but she wasn't nearly strong enough. Seth and the others were having the same problem as well.

Looking down as they were flown off, the captive members of the group could see Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus fighting their way past the remainder of the pterosaurs who had swarmed them.

Bright then used her magic to teleport herself out of her pterosaur's talons, and she reappeared on top of it, floating with her wings. Clover likewise followed suit. The pterosaurs who had been carrying them didn't seem to notice and continued to fly along with the others.

"They're pretty dumb, those pterodactyls," said Seth.

"We'll get you out of this," said Bright, flying up to where Kendra was. She waved her hand at Kendra, causing her to instantly teleport out of the talons of the pterosaur that was holding her and appear next to Bright. Bright quickly grabbed Kendra's hand and used her magic to make Kendra levitate, allowing her to fly alongside Bright.

Clover then did the same to rescue Warren from the pterosaur who had grabbed him. Although he didn't need Clover's power to fly, she did grab his hand so that he could keep up with the others.

"What about me?" asked Seth.

Bright soared over towards Seth and attempted to free him with her magic, but nothing happened.

"What gives?" he asked.

"It's not working!"

"This isn't the time to play games!"

"Seth, I'm trying!"

"Wait a sec," said Warren. "Seth's bracelet! The one he got from the Fairy Queen that suppresses his dark magic. It didn't come back in time! That's why the fairy magic isn't working on him!"

"Well _that's_ convenient," said Seth sarcastically.

"Look, we don't want to upset these pterosaurs. Let's just wait until they land, then we can safely put them to sleep."

"What about Bracken and the dragons?" said Kendra. "And the Chronometer. It's still with them!"

"We can't leave Seth!" said Warren. "And the last thing we need is to split into another group. This is a strange new world and we need to stay together."

After flying for a few more minutes, a vast mountaintop came into view. The pterosaurs flew down towards a cliffside, high above the ground, where they ultimately landed along the clifftop. Kendra noticed that when the pterosaurs reached their destination, they all opened up their talons, despite the fact that only one of them was currently carrying a passenger.

Seth groaned once the pterosaur that had been holding him released him from its grasp. He then looked up at the five pterosaurs that were now leering over him from above.

"Help!" exclaimed Seth, as the pterosaurs all started cawing.

Bright placed Kendra down, and along with Clover's help, the two fairy angels unleashed dust clouds of rainbow and green magic upon the pterosaurs. One by one, the pterosaurs that were surrounding Seth fell asleep and collapsed on the spot.

"Thank god," gasped Seth as he stood up. "Now let's get out of here!"

Before anyone could say another word, at least twenty more pterosaurs had appeared. Neither Kendra nor Seth could tell exactly where they were coming from.

"This must be their roost," said Warren.

"Great idea," said Seth. "Instead of dealing with the _one_ pterodactyl who had me earlier, we let it take me to its nest so that we can meet its entire family!"

The pterosaurs that were standing on the clifftop began waddling closer towards the group.

"Warren," said Clover. "We may need your help with this. Kendra, Seth, get behind us."

Bright and Clover each grabbed onto one of Warren's hands, as Seth and Kendra slipped behind the three of them. The two fairy angels then used their magic to unleash more sparkling powder upon the approaching pterosaurs.

As they did with the first group, the fairies used their power to send each and every last pterosaur off to dreamland. Once they had finished, there was a large dogpile of snoozing pterosaurs, which towered over the group.

"Please tell me there's no more," said Seth.

"It looks like that's it," said Kendra. "They all came in one big group."

"Good," said Seth, looking down at the land below him. There were forests and bodies of water as far as the eye could see. "Cool view! You can see for miles from up here!"

"Seth!" gasped Kendra. "Look!"

Seth turned around and saw that Kendra was fixated on Bright, Clover and Warren. The three of them were sitting down on the clifftop, all sweating and gasping for air.

"What happened?" asked Kendra.

"We used up a lot of our power putting all of those pterosaurs to sleep," said Clover. "Even Warren's."

"We need to get down from here!" said Seth. "Can you help us?"

"We can barely stand up," said Bright.

"Please help us get down," said Kendra, looking down the cliffside. "It looks too steep for us to climb down."

"You've gotta try, girls," said Seth. "We're stuck on some mountain in the wrong time period. We're missing half our group. And we don't have any way home."

"I guess I just... messed up," said Warren. "It was my idea to go back in time. I tried to help, but I just made a huge mess out of everything. Lotta good that accomplished. I should've never considered the Chronometer with Oblivion's spell in effect."

Kendra placed her hand upon Warren's shoulder. "We'll get through this. We just have to."


	15. Looking Forward

**Chapter 15: Looking Forward**

Seth gazed down from the clifftop that he and his allies were currently stranded upon, along with at least two dozen sleeping pterosaurs.

"We might be able to climb down," said Seth, trying to find a path of ledges along the rock face that one could use to descend the cliffside.

"Seth, that could be really dangerous," said Kendra, turning to face Bright and Clover. "Girls, I know that you're both very tired, but if you could please help us get down from here, it would help us so much."

Bright nodded. "Okay. We'll do what we can. Ready, Clover?"

Clover nodded and stood up alongside Bright. They then used their magic to levitate Kendra into the air.

"Warren, Kendra, since our magic won't work on Seth directly, each of you need to grab one of his arms."

Kendra and Warren each grasped onto one of Seth's wrists with both of their hands. Then they lifted Seth off of the clifftop, allowing his body to dangle below them in middair. The two fairies then floated down along the cliffisde, guiding Kendra, Warren and Seth to the bottom.

Although the clifftop had to have been several hundred feet up, they reached the ground in good time. As soon as the soles o Seth's shoes touched the ground, the two fairies both collapsed face first onto the ground. Their magic no longer in effect, Kendra fell roughly six feet towards the ground.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Kendra, bending down to examine Bright. The pain she felt due to the impact of the fall felt like nothing in comparison. Seth and Warren directed their attention to Clover.

"Clover?" asked Warren, examining her scuffed-up face. "Please say something. I'd give you something to help, but I have nothing."

"We're... alive," said Bright faintly. "But our power's almost gone."

"Can you enter your pocket dimensions?" asked Seth. "Then you can both rest up.."

Both of the fairy angels squinted, then used the last of their power to shrink down to disappear in clouds of sparkles.

"You were magnificent," said Warren. "You deserve a rest."

Kendra looked around. The area was completely unfamiliar. "I hope we manage to find the others."

"I hope we don't manage to find anymore dinosaurs," said Seth. "Those pterodactyls were too much."

"Technically, pterosaurs aren't dinosaurs," said Warren. "But now's not the time for a lecture. Kendra's right, we need to find the others."

"I hope they're okay," said Kendra.

"What if we can't find them?" asked Seth.

"Then we might be trapped in this time," replied Warren. "We don't know what happened to them _or_ the Chronometer."

"What if we really are stuck here?"

"I don't know," huffed Warren. "Compared to this place, being stuck in the knapsack's starting to look pretty good in comparison. It was safe and there was Yahtzee."

"I know we came from _that_ direction," said Seth, pointing forwards. "But if the others aren't there, I give up."

The group walked through the forest for what felt like forever, when it had suddenly gotten dark. Although there were a number of insects and exotic-looking reptiles no larger than a chicken, they were fortunate not to catch the attention of anything else that could pose a threat.

"Warren," said Kendra. "We've been walking for a long time. My feet are killing me."

"And I'm hungry," added Seth. "If we can find some cavemen, maybe they'll be kind enough to make us bronto burgers or something."

"Humans did not live alongside dinosaurs, stupid" retorted Kendra. "What do you think this is, The Flintstones?"

"I'm just trying to make the best of things," said Seth. "I'm not _that_ stupid. Look, I'm just _really_ tired"

Warren scratched his chin. "I'm getting tired myself. We've been awake for an entire day, plus however long we've been here, which has definitely been for more than thirty minutes."

"Then what about the Chronometer?" asked Seth.

Saying nothing, Warren shook his head. "Let's just look for something to eat."

As they continued walking, Kendra and Seth looked up at the canopy of the trees above them, trying to locate any sort of fruit they could find. They scoured the branches as best they could, but were unable to spot anything.

Eventually, they came across a large bush off to one side. As Kendra walked up to the bush, her eyes were immediately drawn to a multitude of berries growing on its branches. Unable to identify the berries based on sight alone, Kendra waved for Seth and Warren to come over to the bush.

"Score!," said Seth, reaching a hand towards the bush. "All right, Kendra!"

"Wait!" exclaimed Kendra. "What if they're not edible?"

"I've never seen this kind of berry before," said Warren, eyeing the bush closely. The ripe berries, as far as the group could tell, were royal purple in color, almost completely spherical and seemed to closely resemble grapes.

"That doesn't help," said Seth.

"They might be safe," said Warren as he grabbed a branch and directed it at Seth and Kendra. "Some of the berries have been eaten off by animals."

Kendra and Seth took a good look at the branch, and could see several little stems that were missing berries.

"Doesn't mean that humans can eat them," said Warren, ripping off part of the branch. He then looked at where he tore the branch. No bugs or milk sap inside. That's a good sign."

"Any other tricks you know?" asked Seth.

"Just that shiny leaves are a bad sign. But this plant doesn't have any. Also, touching the plant didn't irritate my skin."

Warren plucked a berry off of the bush and popped it in his mouth. He sucked on it for moment before biting into it and smiled.

"This is delicious!" he said. "It tastes like candy! Mind the seed, though."

"What the hell," said Seth, grabbing a berry. "If we can't get home, I may as well die a sweet tooth."

Seth bit down on his berry. It _did_ taste like candy! He couldn't quite put his finger on the flavor. Similar to a purple jelly bean with a hint of lemon.

Warren and Seth proceeded to eat a few more berries.

"You gotta have one," said Seth, passing a berry to Kendra. She reluctantly accepted it in the palm of her hand.

Saying nothing, Kendra proceeded to eat the berry. It did taste like candy to her as well! Before long, the group had eaten over half of the berries on the bush.

"What kind of berries are these, anyway?" asked Kendra.

"Ones that are extinct in our time," replied Warren.

"If we die from this," said Seth, "At least I'll have died happy,"

"Amen," said Warren. "If Clover and Bright want berries, they're welcome to help themselves, although they're still resting. We need to rest too, though. Maybe we should just camp out here."

For the next few minutes, the group collected several branches and twigs that had been laying around on the forest floor, and brought them back to a spot near the bush. Warren then held a small, sturdy stick vertically atop one of the logs, and began spinning it furiously to create fire. After a minute or so, smoke appeared and the stick had caught on fire.

"My poor hands," said Warren, using the burning stick to light the rest of the kindling. Kendra and Seth could see that his hands were actually bleeding. "There's an easier method that involves a bow, but this worked too."

"I only wish we had something to sleep in," said Seth. "We got no pillows, no mattresses, no blankets."

Kendra gathered a cluster of at least fifty dead leaves that were lying around on the ground and formed them into a small pile, then lay down on the ground, using the leaves as a pillow of sorts.

"Kendra's got the right idea," said Warren. "We'll just have to make due."

Seth and Warren also proceeded to form pillows out of dead leaves, then laid down on the ground near the fire themselves. Although the leaves were exceptionally grimy, they we at least softer than the ground itself.

As they laid down on the ground, Kendra looked upwards, watching the smoke from the fire drift skyward until it dissipated. Through the treetops, Kendra was able to gaze at the stars. Although she never paid much attention to the stars in the present, she came to the conclusion that the ones she was gazing at now were presumably fairly different in this era. Some of them would no doubt have become dwarf stars, supernovas, or even black holes by present day, while others didn't even exist yet at this point in time.

Although the ground was no mattress, the soil and dead leaves provided some sort of cushioning. Part of Kendra wished that there could have been a cave for them to seek shelter in. If it were to rain, not only would they all get soaked, but their bonfire would be extinguished.

Seth couldn't help but fret about their situation as well. As far as they were concerned, they were stranded in the past. If the Chronometer hadn't already left the current time period by now, it was probably never going to.

"What do you think is going to happen to Fablehaven?" asked Seth. "You know, if we never get back to our time?"

"I don't know," said Kendra. "If the army's attacking it with their powerful weapons, what hope do they have?"

"And if Fablehaven_ is_ destroyed by weapons," said Warren, "or at least the main yard, then the protection governing the preserve will fall apart. Oblivion will have unobstructed access to the Fairy Queen's shrine. And if she _can't_ get the Omega Stars, she'll still have the power to terrorize the world."

"And our family?" asked Seth. "Our friends."

"Dead," said Warren.

Kendra started to cry. "What can we do? We might never get home!"

"We'll think of something," said Seth. "If only I knew what that something was."

Kendra proceeded to wipe the tears from hear eyes, then felt someone reaching an arm around her body. It was Warren, giving Kendra a hug. "Maybe the others made it back," he said. "They might even be able to get the Chronometer working again."

"With Oblivion's spell in effect?" asked Kendra. "It's impossible!"

"You never know. I've gotten through hopeless situations before, much of which I owe to the two of you."

"Too bad the two of us are in this situation along with you," said Seth, who also started to cry. He got up, made his way over to where Kendra and Warren were on the ground and hugged them. They hugged him back.

* * *

After enduring a long, deep sleep, Kendra opened her eyes. Daylight filled the sky once again. She had slept the entire night away.

Looking at her surroundings, Kendra could see that Warren and Seth were sleeping by her sides. In addition to that, they were now on a king-sized mattress, and a large blanket was covering them. Where did it come from?

Kendra tossed her part of the blanket aside and looked around. Bright and Clover were sleeping underneath opposite ends of the blanket as well. Of course! They had regained their strength, woken up at some point and provided the mattress and blanket with magic!

Kendra's stomach felt perfectly fine. Fortunately, the berries from the previous day had not been poisonous. She crawled out from underneath the blanket and stood up, amazed by what she saw.

Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus were all surrounding the group, curled up on the ground in their creature forms. They were still here, and they had managed to find the group!

"Everyone!" exclaimed Kendra with a huge grin on her face. "We're all together again! Wake up!"

Kendra dashed over to where Bracken was sleeping and rubbed his forehead. "Bracken! We're all right!"

Bracken let out a neigh-like yawn and opened his intense, silvery eyes. Kendra then noticed that the others were all starting to rise up as well.

"Clover, Bright," said Warren, once everyone had all stood up. "Glad to see you two are doing well."

"We needed the rest," said Clover, giving Warren a kiss. But we're better now."

"What happened to all of you?" asked Geminus.

Seth looked around. Bracken did not appear to have his horn, while Raxtus and Geminus appeared to be grizzly bears.

"The milk!" exclaimed Seth. "I haven't had it!"

"It's not available," said Warren. "I'm sorry."

Seth sighed. "Guess it doesn't matter too much. It's not like there's any other magical creatures in this time anyway."

The first group relayed their tale to the other, explaining how they had escaped from the pterosaurs and exhausted themselves.

"What about you three?" asked Bright. "Those pterosaurs were all over you!"

"We fought them all off," answered Bracken. "I actually enjoyed the battle."

"It helps being able to become invisible," said Raxtus. "But even without that power, I think I still would've won. Two dragons and a unicorn are nothing to scoff at."

"You didn't kill them all, did you?" asked Kendra.

Bracken laughed. "Course not. Our fairy qualities prevent us from any sort of attacking others unless we're physically provoked first. Enough stabs here, some slashes there, and those pterosaurs gave up. We healed their wounds, though. Course by then, we didn't know where you folks had gone."

"Why didn't you follow those pterodactyls back to their roost?" asked Seth.

"We followed them around," said Geminus. "But they went hunting for a while. Sometime later, they returned to their roost, where there were a lot more of them. Lucky for us, they were sound asleep."

Everyone laughed.

"We looked around the area for you guys for hours. It was the smoke from the fire that ultimately clued us in. We don't know how we would've found you without it. Our power was getting weaker and we couldn't detect Kendra's presence anywhere."

"When we found you guys, you were all asleep," said Geminus. "Since we were tired as well and didn't want to wake you, we just fell asleep ourselves."

"Where's the Chronometer?" asked Seth.

"I got it," said Raxtus. He swung his tail forward and revealed the artifact that the tip of it was clenching.

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," said Warren.

"It never did anything," said Geminus. "I don't think it would've done anything, even if we _had_ stayed in the same spot."

"I've conjectured that if you fail to return to the spot where you arrived after thirty minutes, the Chronometer will go back to where you came from without it. Not that I've wanted to test this theory. But, that was when the thing was actually working properly, so moot point now, I guess."

"Are we trapped in this time, then?" asked Seth.

"We'll never see our daughter again!" added Geminus.

"Maybe we could do something to repair the Chronometer?" asked Bright.

"I tried for a while," said Bracken. "It seems to be kaput. Not powerless, just broken."

Kendra directed Bracken and the dragons over to the berry bush they had fed themselves with the previous night. They ultimately finished off every last berry that was on the bush, but soon found several other bushes with plenty more of the same kind of berries.

After everyone had eaten, Bright and Clover knelt down in front of the Chronometer and began toying with the artifact. They used their magic on it several times, but couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.

"Sorry," said Clover, shaking her head, "but we're stumped."

"Guess we _are_ stuck, then," said Seth. "Let's face it. Unless a miracle happens, we're just going to die of old age."

"You humans might," said Bracken, "but not us fairies. We'll live for a long time."

"How long, exactly?" asked Kendra.

"Well, some fairies have been around since before anyone started keeping track of time," replied Bright. "It's hard to say, really."

Warren laughed. "Maybe you'll live long enough that you'll make it back to the present day. Too bad we'll be long dead by then."

Listening to Warren's remark, Kendra gazed upon Bracken's horn, then realized something. "Bracken, your original third horn was used to create the Font of Immortality."

"Yeah. So?"

"I get it," said Seth. "Maybe we could use Bracken's horn as our own Font of Immortality and live forever!"

Bracken sighed. "Don't be ridiculous. You don't want to be self-reliant on that. Besides, even if I could, my horn won't work like that without the proper magic. If we even had the proper magic, we could probably just restore the Chronometer."

"I got it!" exclaimed Bright. "We'll go into stasis!"

Seth shrugged. "How?"

"You're all familiar with how Quiet Boxes work, right?"

"Yeah!" said Kendra. "When Vanessa was in the one at Fablehaven, it seemed as though she didn't age in there. My grandparents have said that you can keep a prisoner in one of those for forever, essentially."

"Are you guys saying that we should just _build_ our own Quiet Box?" asked Warren.

"Sort of," said Clover. "As fairies, we could construct a cocoon around all of us. Inside this cocoon, once sealed, we would then be locked into a state of suspended animation."

"I was in a fairy cocoon once," said Seth. "But, I was fully aware in it."

"We heard about that," said Bright. "The pixie cocoon you got from Coulter Dixon? This one would work differently, more like a Quiet Box."

"That sounds like it could work," said Seth. "And we wouldn't age?"

"Correct. It's a protective strategy employed by fairies during harsh conditions. Of course, we'd modify ours a bit to work more like a Quiet Box."

"So, if we were to seal ourselves in this cocoon, how would we get out?" asked Warren.

"Since we'd be perpetually frozen inside the cocoon, we'd have to rely on someone else to find us and let us out in the future," said Bright.

"When I was in a cocoon, only I was capable of freeing myself," said Seth. "How're we supposed to do that if we're in a stasis?"

"We'll construct the cocoon to be penetrable from the outside."

"Girls, if we all enter this cocoon, we'll have no contact in the future who'll know to free us," said Bracken. "We could be trapped in it for eternity. And we don't know how far in time we've travelled, so setting a timed release would be impractical."

"We need someone from the modern era to find us," said Raxtus. "But we don't know where we are now."

"We're somewhere around where Fablehaven will ultimately be founded," said Warren. "

"Maybe we could just hide the cocoon in a place where somebody at Fablehaven will eventually find it?" said Seth.

"I know!" said Warren. "Let's hide the cocoon underground, where the Inverted Tower will some day be constructed."

"I get it," said Kendra. "When they start to dig out the tower in the future, they'll find us!"

"Yeah! If we explain ourselves to the wizards who build the vault, maybe they can help us restore the Chronometer! Or we could just take the functional Chronometer from that time and use it instead."

Warren rubbed his hands. "All right, everybody. We've got some work to do!"


	16. Foundations

**Chapter 16: Foundations**

"This sounds like a great idea," said Clover. "But _wher_e exactly are we supposed to be doing this?"

"At the future site of the Inverted Tower," replied Warren.

"Which is where?"

Warren stopped to rub his forehead. "I have absolutely no idea. Nothing in this time correlates to the Fablehaven we know in the present."

"What about the house?" asked Seth. "That's the spot where we travelled back in time, so if we _do_ manage to find the future site of it, it would at least serve as a reference point."

"Sounds good enough to me," said Geminus.

"We were heading in that direction anyway," said Kendra. "Let's just go back until we reach it."

"All right," said Warren. "But first, you fairies need to put away the bedding. Best not to leave something like that lying around in this time period.

Bright and Clover nodded and conjured up magical sparkles with their hands, which caused the blanket, mattress and pillows to vanish into thin air.

Kendra and Bright climbed onto Bracken's back, Warren and Clover mounted onto Raxtus, while Seth and Bright got on Geminus, who appeared to be little more than a large bear to him. The unicorn and the two dragons then soared into the air, continuing in the direction that the group of five had been travelling the previous day.

"I think I see it," said Raxtus, leading the group down to a clearing. From what Kendra and Seth could tell, it presumably was the area where they had arrived in this current time. Raxtus, Geminus and Bracken then flew down to the ground and landed.

"This _does_ look like the spot," said Kendra, eyeing her surroundings. "I hope this is right."

"So, from here, we just need to figure out where the Inverted Tower is going to be and go there?" asked Seth.

"Basically," said Warren. "I know which direction it's in from here, because I know how to reach the Inverted Tower from the house in the present. And I've got a rough idea of how far it is from the house."

Warren then pointed in a direction different from which they had backtracked from. "Based on my position from when we arrived, the future sight of the Inverted Tower has to be... That way!"

Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all took off into the air again, flying in the direction Warren had pointed them in."

"Right around... Here!" said Warren. "Let's land!"

The unicorn and dragons descended down to the ground, landing in the middle of a thick, forested area, dominated by trees. It didn't appear to resemble the revenant's grove, although that came as no surprise.

"Well, the distance seems right," said Warren, as he dropped down from Raxtus and began walking around between the many tall trees. "But I don't know the exact spot where they'll actually build the tower."

"This seems hopeless," said Kendra, getting off of Bracken. "We can't predict the exact spot where the Inverted Tower is going to be built! If the builders don't find us, we're doomed!"

"Not necessarily," said Bright. "We know the vault's going to be constructed somewhere around here, right? What we can do is is cast an enticement spell on the cocoon."

"What's an enticement spell?" asked Seth.

"It's the opposite of a distractor spell," answered Clover. "Instead of repelling folks, it draws them right in!"

"So as long as we're in the general area, the builders will be drawn to us," added Bracken.

"But we might attract the wrong party," said Kendra. "Like wild animals or natives."

"We can adjust the spell so that only someone with a magical prowess will detect it," said Bright.

"Well, first thing we need to do is dig a hole," said Warren. "Doesn't need to be too deep, though. Sediment will ultimately cause the cocoon to go further into the ground."

"Like a fossil?" asked Kendra.

"Exactly. Now, we just gotta dig us a hole that we and the cocoon can all fit inside of."

"How're we supposed to dig?" asked Seth.

"Leave that to us," said Raxtus, as he and Geminus stepped up to the center of the group. "Us dragons can dig just fine."

Seth eyed Raxtus and Geminus' large claws and nails. Although they appeared as bears to him, he knew what their true claws were actually like. He'd never though about it before, but they looked like they would make great digging tools.

"Where do you want us to dig, anyway?" asked Geminus.

"So long as we have an enticement spell, here's as good a spot as any," said Warren.

"If you say so," said Raxtus. "Let's get going!"

Raxtus and Geminus bent down on all fours, then proceeded to start digging up the soil beneath them. The dragons were fairly efficient diggers, as soil was constantly flying out of the ground and forming up in piles around it. Kendra wanted to get a better view of the digging dragons, but the incoming soil was too much of an obstacle for her.

"How's this?" asked Geminus, as she and Raxtus climbed out of the hole after digging for about a minute, their claws and nails covered in dirt.

The others all crowded around the hole and gazed down into it. It was roughly ten feet deep and was wide enough that a full-grown elephant could fit inside of it. With help from Raxtus and Geminus, everyone then climbed down into the hole

"Is everybody ready?" asked Clover.

"I guess now's as good a time as any," said Seth.

"All right," said Bright. "Now for the cocoon,"

Bright and Clover held hands. Using their free hands, they conjured up swirls of rainbow and green sparkles. Bracken also exerted rainbow sparkles from his horn.

The sparkles circled around the entire group, until they had formed a large, green, transparent bubble of sparkles within the hole. Next, the soil that had been dug up began pouring down into the hole, but not falling past the barrier. Once the entire hole had been covered, the bubble of sparkles started to solidify into a moist, spongy encasement. It reminded Seth of the time he had been inside of Coulter's cocoon.

"Once the light fades," said Bright, "the spell will be in full effect. We will all be perpetually frozen until someone releases us."

"This is either a hole to the future," said Kendra. "Or we've just dug our own graves."

"If anyone wants to back out," said Clover, "speak now, or forever hold your peace."

"If this whole thing goes awry, you'll be right on the _forever_ part," noted Warren.

"All right then," said Bright. "Future, here we come!"

Bright, Clover and Bracken lowered their hands and horn, causing the sparkling light created by their magic to fade away. At that moment, Kendra and Seth both felt as though they had been knocked unconscious, and the world around them started fading away into nothingness.

* * *

Feeling exceptionally groggy, Kendra moaned as light pierced itself through a hole in the wall of the cocoon. Lying on the spongy floor with the rest of her comrades, Kendra raised her arms in front of her face to block out the light. It did little to help, as the hole only started to get larger.

"What's going on?" moaned Seth, who too was feeling weary. He watched as the roof of the cocoon was peeled open from the outside, and a figure fell down inside of it.

The soft floor of the cocoon cushioned the fall of the man, whose entrance had surprised everyone.

"What happened?" ask Warren, rising to his feet.

"Who are you?" asked Bright.

The man stood up. He wore a shimmering golden robe and sported a large, white beard, with equally long hair running down his backside. His face had an aged look to it, but was free of wrinkles. He appeared to be holding a small, slender sword in one hand.

"This is... highly unusual," said the man. "Who are all of you?"

"It's a long story," said Warren.

"Look, why don't we at least get out of this hole?" asked the man, as we waved his arms. Everyone was suddenly surrounded by a golden glow and began to levitate into the air. They then rose out of the hole, which appeared to be much deeper than the one that had initially been dug up in the first place.

Once they had been placed on the ground and were released from the man's enchantment, everyone looked around. They still appeared to be in a forest, but there appeared to be more evergreen and deciduous trees than when they had first dug up the hole.

"Now then," said the man. "My name is Zoverdom. I am a wizard. Seeing as how there are two fairies, two dragons and a unicorn among all of you, I didn't feel that my revelation would come as a huge shock to anyone. Now, please explain yourselves to me. Who are all of you?"

The group all introduced themselves to Zoverdom by name.

"Bracken and Bright? Why, you two must be the children of the Fairy Queen! I am honored to meet both of you, your highnesses."

Bracken and Bright both nodded, as Bright offered out her hand. Zoverdom shook it.

"Bracken?" asked Zoverdom. "I've heard about you. I was told you sacrificed your third horn to create the Font of Immortality. How are you still a unicorn?"

"It's kind of hard to explain," said Bracken. "I don't want to say anything that might endanger our existence."

"This may sound strange," said Warren, "but we're actually from the future. I think. What year is this, anyway?"

"You're from the future? It's 1689."

"Hey, we _almost_ made it," said Seth.

"If you're from the future, then what were you doing in that cocoon?" asked Zoverdom.

"We accidentally travelled back in time," said Raxtus. "Problem is, we went too far back and couldn't return."

"You travelled back in time?" asked Zoverdom. "Incredible."

"Yeah, well, we couldn't go back the same way, so we hibernated in that cocoon," said Geminus. "I guess for a really long time."

"Try several million years," said Warren.

"That's _amazing_," said Zoverdom enthusiastically. "I guess you're wondering about my story."

"Well, how did you find us?" asked Kendra.

"I was asked to come out here to aid in the construction of a something. I can't say what it is."

"A vault?" asked Seth.

"That... was a lucky guess."

"Don't tell us," said Warren. "You need to build a hiding spot for the Sands of Sanctity."

"How do you even know about that?" exclaimed Zoverdom. "That information was top secret!"

"I told you. We're from the future. We're with the Knights of the Dawn."

"Even though you kept much of this a secret to the world," said Kendra, "the information was passed down through the ages."

"What happens?" asked Zoverdom, eagerness expressing through his voice.

"We really can't say," said Warren. "See, if we tell you what happens in the future, you might alter your original plans. That in turn would alter the stream of time, and many events would happen differently. It's very dangerous, and so for our own safety, it's best we don't reveal too much."

Zoverdom sighed. "I understand. Anyway, as I was saying, the current location of the Sands of Sanctity has allegedly been leaked to the Society of the Evening Star. We can't risk letting the Society getting ahold of any of the artifacts. So, I was asked by the Knights of the Dawn to construct a new home for the Sands of Sanctity."

"How did you wind up here, anyway?" asked Bracken.

"I was asked to seek out a secluded area where I could construct a new vault to house the Sands of Sanctity. It has to be a secret. I was told to not tell anyone but a select few. Not even the Sphinx is to learn of its location. As to why I picked this spot? Well, look at this place. The flora and fauna here are so vibrant and full of life!"

"Since this vault's going to be underground, why does that stuff actually matter?" asked Seth.

Zoverdom smiled. "The colonization of this part of the world by man is steadily endangering the lives of fantastic creatures from all over. And, as is the case with the other artifacts, we want the new vault to be situated within a refuge preserve for these magical creatures. The existence of this preserve will not only serve as a sanctuary for magical creatures, but will keep the vault from being discovered by outsiders. And rather than blow my cover by constructing the vault in an existing preserve, the Knights opted to have it built elsewhere, to keep the occupants of an existing preserve from learning its location."

"That's incredible," said Kendra. "Since we're from the future, we knew that this would be the spot where the vault would be built."

"I don't believe it," said Zoverdom faintly. "I just thought this whole area was serene and tranquil. It wasn't until I neared this spot that I detected a magical presence from where you all were buried. It was then that I summoned my golems to dig you out."

"Golems?" asked Seth.

"Correct. They are the ones who will be doing the physical labor for the construction of this vault."

"Where are they?" asked Geminus, examining her surroundings."

"Golems!" shouted Zoverdom. "Step forward."

The group heard several pairs of heavy footsteps approaching them. Soon several golems were approaching them from all directions. Kendra had to turn around in order to see them all. Altogether, there seemed to be around ten or so. All of the golems seemed to resemble Hugo, or at least what he used to look like when Kendra and Seth first met him. There were some minor differences between the formations and sizes of the many golems, but no real distinguishing features between them otherwise.

"I can't see them!" said Seth. "They're just dirt piles!"

"Of course!" said Zoverdom. "You've been in that hole for ages. Here, have some of this."

Zoverdom waved his hand, causing a piece of pale white cheese to appear in it. "Eat this cheese, Seth. It comes from a ewe at the Stony Vale preserve in Scotland."

The name of the preserve rung a bell in Kendra's mind. She had been to Stony Vale before. It was where she had gone to visit one of the Fairy Queen's shrines.

Seth cautiously accepted the cheese from Zoverdom. He was not fond of salty cheese made from sheep's milk, such as Romano or feta. "Okay. Here goes."

Seth took a bite. It was delicious! Sweet and creamy, just like Viola's milk or walrus butter. He was now able to see the golems for who they were. He looked over at Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus and could now see their true forms. "You got any more? I'm hungry"

"Me too," added Warren. "Truth be told, we haven't eaten in years."

"I don't have a lot of this cheese," said Zoverdom. "But I've got more food in my tent. Follow me."

Zoverdom and the golems led the group over to a nearby tent that had been set up. It wasn't very large, as it certainly couldn't contain the entire group, so they opted to stand outside.

"You dragons aren't very large. Hope your appetites aren't very large either."

Zoverdom waved his hands, causing various floating plates full of various sandwiches, meats and pastries to appear before the group. Everyone grabbed a plate of something, including Bracken, who had now transformed into a human wearing silky clothes.

"This is great," said Seth, eating a chicken drumstick. His plate also contained cooked green beans and a small pile of pilaf.

After everyone had eaten, Zoverdom used his power to conjure up several goblets. Kendra grabbed one of them and looked down at the dark purple liquid that was inside of it.

"Is this... wine?" asked Kendra.

"I'm sorry," said Zoverdom. "Do you not care for wine?"

"Us kids don't really drink this stuff," said Seth. "You got any grape soda? That'd be a little more my speed."

"I don't know what soda is," said Zoverdom. "Try this tea instead."

Zoverdom waved his hands. Kendra and Seth looked at their goblets, to see that they had magically been replaced with cups of tea. The two siblings drank the tea, which had been brewed to perfection. After everyone had eaten, Zoverdom used his power to do away with all of the dirty dishes.

"Thank you for accommodating us," said Bracken.

"The pleasure was all mine," said Zoverdom. "But I'm afraid I may have fallen behind schedule. Golems, return to the spot where you were just digging."

The golems all marched back to the hole that had been dug up. Zoverdom proceeded to walk after them.

"Wait," exclaimed Seth, as he and the others all darted after Zoverdom. "We could still use your help!"

"Now's not a good time. The construction of the vault must go underway."

"But this is important," said Warren. "Would you be able to restore our artifact?"

"Artifact?" asked Zoverdom, stopping dead in his tracks. "You... don't actually have an artifact, do you?"

"We do," said Clover. "It's hidden in a vault right now, but it gets discovered in the future."

"But... why?" asked Zoverdom.

"It's best we don't say," said Bracken. "We really shouldn't be disclosing this information with you."

Zoverdom sighed. "I understand. What I don't get is how all of you allegedly travelled back in time in the first place."

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Bright. "With our artifact."

"That's preposterous. I may have limited knowledge of all five artifacts, but it's enough to know that none of them are capable of travelling through time."

"Show him, Raxtus," said Warren.

Raxtus stretched his tail forward and placed the Chronometer that he was holding with it into Warren's hands.

"This is the artifact we're talking about," said Seth. "The Chronometer."

Zoverdom stared at the Chronometer, and appeared to be completely dumbfounded. "What's a Chronometer?"


	17. A Mystery in History

**Chapter 17: A Mystery in History**

The Knights of the Dawn were in shock upon hearing Zoverdom's reaction. How could the wizard have never heard about the Chronometer?

"You're... kidding, right?" asked Bright, cautiously.

Zoverdom shook his head. "None of the artifacts have any power over time."

"Well, this one does!" exclaimed Raxtus.

"I don't know what this Chronometer is, but it's certainly _not_ one of the five artifacts."

Warren raised his hands into the air. "Hold it! Everybody, there is clearly some dispute as to what the five artifacts actually are."

Everybody nodded, including Zoverdom. "All right, then. Would you folks mind telling me what the five artifacts actually are?"

"Well," said Kendra. "There's the Sands of Sanctity..."

"Right," said Zoverdom. "It has restorative properties."

"The Occulus, which grants unlimited sight."

Zoverdom continued nodding.

"The Translocator, which has power over space. The Font of Immortality, which prolongs life."

"Bracken's horn, of course."

"And the Chronometer, which has power over time."

Zoverdom shook his head. "Sorry, but you're wrong on that last one."

"What are you talking about?" asked Seth. "This Chronometer here is so one of the five artifacts. It's one of the keys to Zzyzx, the demon prison."

Zoverdom rolled his eyes. "It's impossible for all of this to have been a coincidence. No way that your appearance here is all some elaborate prank. But I know full well what the fifth artifact is supposed to be, and it is not this alleged Chronometer."

"Well, what _is_ the fifth artifact?" asked Kendra.

"That would be the Skullifier," replied Zoverdom.

"Never heard of it," said Bright. Everyone else in the group shook their heads.

"The Skullifier?" asked Seth. "What does it do?"

"It cancels out the effect of any magic,"

"Are you serious?" asked Kendra, speaking in a rather doubtful tone of voice.

"Look, this Skullifier thing can't be one of the five actual artifacts," said Warren. "The Chronometer is here right now in front of us, and we're positive that it's one of them."

"Zoverdom," said Kendra. "I have a theory. Maybe this Skullifier is just a cover. You know, perhaps to throw people off from the fact that it's actually an artifact capable of travelling through time?"

Zoverdom shook his head. "Look, I admit that I've never actually seen any of the artifacts before. But I can't imagine others wizards and Knights of the Dawn all lying about the Skullifier to me."

"Look, we don't care about some stupid Skullifier," said Seth. "Real or not, it's no key to Zzyzx."

"Here's a question," said Bracken. "Do you know where the Skullifier currently is?"

"I don't. The current locations of the five artifacts are unknown to me, with the exception of the Sands of Sanctity, which will ultimately be relocated to this vault, once it's built. I know little else about the artifacts, as I did not create any of them or their existing vaults."

"Well, artifact or no artifact, do you think you might be able to fix the Chronometer?" asked Seth, glancing over at the Chronometer in Warren's hands.

"Magical devices that I'm unfamiliar with are not my forte. I'm sorry."

"Excuse us, but we need a time out," said Warren as he ran off several yards, then made a waving gesture, signalling for everybody except for Zoverdom to follow him.

"I've got an idea. Regardless of whatever Zoverdom's telling us, we all know that the Chronometer must currently be sitting in the vault at Lost Mesa."

Kendra nodded. "You're right. Patton won't find it for more than a century from now."

"Are you just proposing that we head to Lost Mesa now, pick up the Chronometer that's there and use it to get back home?" asked Seth.

"We may have to, since Zoverdom over there isn't entirely sold on our _Chronometer-is-an-artifact_ story."

"But if we take the Chronometer now and use it to travel back to our time," said Bright, "then we'll have to make sure it gets back there at some point, so that it's there for Patton to find when he gets through the vault."

"Yeah, this whole thing could cause a huge paradox," added Bracken.

"And what about that Skullifier thing Zoverdom was talking about?" asked Geminus. "True, we all know that it's not one of the five artifacts, but he seemed very adamant about it."

"It might just be a red herring, for all we know."

"Zoverdom said that he wasn't very knowledgeable about the five artifacts," said Seth. "You guys think maybe we should try to find someone else who might?"

"Where would we even start looking?" asked Raxtus.

"Zoverdom seems to know about everything through the Knights of the Dawn," said Kendra. "Maybe he can help us."

The others all nodded, and proceeded to sprint back over to Zoverdom, who was standing before the hole that the golems were digging up.

"Excuse us," said Warren, "but we really need to see the Knights of the Dawn."

"Sorry, but I haven't the time to lead you to my client. Also, their information is classified."

"But we're Knights ourselves," said Seth.

"Can you prove it?"

"Well... no," said Warren, "we couldn't bring anything with us when we time travelled, and our records haven't been written yet."

Zoverdom scrunched his head. "All right. I will contact the Knights of the Dawn to see what they think. But if they dismiss the idea, I won't ask them again. Fair enough?"

"Agreed," said Warren.

Zoverdom pulled out a stone from a pocket within his robe and it began to glow in his hand. "Hello? Lady Evangeline? This is Zoverdom. I've encountered some... unusual people during my excursion of the new vault. They claim to be Knights of the Dawn from the future. I'm convinced that two of them are children of the Fairy Queen, but they're all a peculiar group. Anyway, they insist on meeting you. They claim to have an artifact, different from the five we're aware of. Understood. I'll let them know. Listen I need to get back to my work. Thank you."

Zoverdom turned back to face the group. "I just contacted a higher-up at the Knights of the Dawn. She would like to meet with you."

"She would?" asked Seth. "Cool. But, where can we find her?"

Zoverdom waved his hand, causing a compass to appear in it. He then waved his other hand over the compass and presented it to Kendra.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"I've enchanted this compass to always point directly towards your destination. Follow the needle, you'll figure out the rest."

Kendra rotated the compass around in her hands. No matter how she angled it, the needle was always pointing towards the same direction.

"Thank you," said Seth. "I know our meeting was awkward, but you've been a big help."

"You do not concern me. I'm only leading you all to the Knights of the Dawn because of Bracken and Bright. I would never approve of such a thing otherwise."

"Well, good luck with constructing the vault," said Kendra.

"Don't make it _too_ dangerous," said Warren, speaking under his breath.

As Bracken transformed, group then got back onto the backs of him, Raxtus and Geminus, who all took off into the sky. Kendra rode ahead on Bracken, following the needle of the compass that she was holding in one hand. She was hoping that the compass actually had been enchanted, and was not a hoax.

"We're not heading north now, are we?" asked Kendra.

"Doesn't feel like it," replied Warren. "I know where north is from that area where the Inverted Tower will be. It feels like we're going southwest-ish."

"You really think we should just go off like this?" asked Clover.

"Not entirely. But I don't know what other option we have.

As they continued to fly onwards, Kendra dreaded the possibility that Zoverdom had led them away just to get rid of them. Or worse, he was just directing them towards some sort of trap. However, it was clear from the start that he, while hospitable enough, had his own agenda, and didn't want to reveal the Knights of the Dawn to them. What would they do if they got lost?

Kendra kept her eye on the compass for the entire time. Since Bracken just flew straight the entire time, there were almost no instances in which she needed to correct his direction. It didn't take long for the sun to start setting. Since the sun was setting in the west to their right, it meant that they were clearly travelling south.

"The compass!" gasped Kendra, once she saw the needle slide around, now pointing to the other end of the compass. It moved!"

Bracken came to a halt in middair, prompting Raxtus and Geminus to do the same once they caught up with him.

"Where does it say we're supposed to go?" asked Raxtus, gradually flapping his wings to stay aloft in the air.

"It says now that we need to turn around and go back the other way."

"What?" exclaimed Geminus. "You mean we _missed_ it?"

"Apparently. I've been keeping my eye on this thing the whole time!"

Bracken rotated his body halfway around, so that he was facing backwards, while Raxtus and Geminus turned themselves as well.

"That's good," said Kendra, looking at the needle that was pointing ahead of her. "Okay, let's move!"

Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all flew forwards. Under Kendra's instruction, they were flying in the direction of the needle.

"Stop!" cried Kendra, prompting Bracken and the dragons to once again come to a halt. "It's pointing backwards again! Our destination has to be close."

"Also on the ground," added Warren. "Let's land and see where we are."

"Great," said Seth. "We're going to plummet now, aren't we?"

"Yup," said Raxtus.

Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all tucked their noses downwards, then proceeded to divebomb through the layer of clouds below them. Kendra and Seth held onto Bracken and Geminus fiercely, as their rides spiralled down through the sky at a high speed. If they weren't already used to this type of thrill, they'd have been terrified.

As the surface of the Earth gradually drew nearer, Kendra and Seth spotted a village of some sort coming into view. Only a few hundred feet above the ground, they could start seeing rooftops and lane ways.

Once they were no higher than fifty feet, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all veered up and began flying around in a giant circle, waiting for their momentum to all slow down.

Seth looked down at the village beneath them. There were dozens and dozens of small buildings, most of which were only one story, a few others no higher than three.

Once they had all slowed down enough, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus came down into a small, empty park, no larger than a few houses across in size. Once they landed behind several bushes, all of their passengers dismounted from their backs. Aside from trees, shrubs and flowers, there were a few old-fashioned looking benches and planters scattered across the grass.

"That way," said Kendra, pointing in the same direction that the needle was.

Bracken then transformed into a human, while Geminus shrank down into her fairy form. Raxtus became invisible.

"What is this place?" asked Seth, as they walked through the park.

"A village," replied Warren. "But, I think you were aware of that. Wish I had a better answer."

As they made their way to the edge of the park and to a street, the group was able to see the village from close up. The buildings sported colonial architecture, were all made of wood and stone. They looked like buildings that came out of the days of pioneers.

The road was unpaved, and there were no cars parked anywhere. The street was being illuminated by several lamp posts, the kind that ran on gas which instantly made Seth think of Narnia. As there were no sidewalks, the group just travelled along the side of the road.

After walking for a few blocks, Kendra noticed that the needle of her compass drifted to her side. "Guys, I think I found something."

They were currently standing outside of the yard to a house, which the needle was pointing towards. As they walked away from the house, the tip of the needle still aimed towards it. "This seems like the place."

The group walked through the yard and up to the front door of the house. Up close, Kendra could see that the walls had been built entirely out of stones, with wooden frames covering the doors and windows. Although the curtains were closed, light was seeping out from the window of a nearby room. Kendra rapped on the door.

Footsteps from within the house could be heard approaching the front door. Once they stopped, the lock clicked and the door swung open.

Standing before the group was a well-built woman, presumably in her mid-to-late thirties. Her face was smooth, her flax hair wove down past her shoulders, and she wore a white dress.

"Who are you?" asked the woman.

"This is the right place, right?" asked Seth.

"Uh," began Bracken, "do you, by chance, know a guy named Zoverdom?"

The woman raised her eyes. "You must be those folks he told me about. What group are you with?"

"The Knights of the Dawn," replied Warren. "We have the artifact."

The woman squinted. "Come inside."

"Raxtus," whispered Kendra. "You too."

Once the group entered the house, the woman closed the door behind them. From what Kendra and Seth could see from the entry hall, nearly everything inside the house was made of wood. The floors, walls, ceiling, stairs, all made of wooden planks with no paint, wallpaper or drywall to cover them.

"Perhaps I should introduce myself," said the woman, leading the group into another room. "My name is Evangeline Jarvis, but most people refer to me as Lady Evangeline."

The room appeared to be a living room, and contained two sofas, neither of which had backsides, and a few armchairs. There was also a wood stove in the corner which was currently in use. Nobody in the modern age still owned furniture like this; Kendra had only ever seen this sort of thing in museums. Everybody except Lady Evangeline sat down.

"Now, Zoverdom had informed me that you all came here from the future," said Lady Evangeline, as she stepped into a nearby kitchen. "How is that?"

"We have with us the Chronometer," said Bright. "It's a magical device that can send the user through time."

"Are you serious?" asked Lady Evangeline from the kitchen.

"Well, you must be aware of the five artifacts that are capable of opening Zzyzx, right?" asked Clover.

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Lady Evangeline, carrying a plate of shortbread cookies into the living room which she placed down on the table. Seth grabbed one and bit into it. It was scrumptious.

"Well, our device," said Warren, "is the Chronometer. It's one of the five secret artifacts."

Lady Evangeline rolled her eyes. "First of all, none of the five artifacts are capable of travelling through time. It's just unheard of. Secondly, if you did in fact travel through time to come here... Why?"

"Artifact or not," said Bright, "we still managed to come here from the future using the Chronometer."

Warren set the Chronometer down on the table next to the plate of cookies.

"We've had a rough time," said Bracken. "See, we travelled back in time to avoid a disaster, but were wrongly hurled back to the wrong year, and the Chronometer malfunctioned on us. We went into stasis for millions of years, just to reach this time."

"But we had to plant ourselves where we'd be safe," said Bright. "So we went to where the vault would've been built, and that's how Zoverdom found us."

"Nobody else was supposed to know about that," said Lady Evangeline. "But I don't know whether or not I should trust Zoverdom's word. He is not a member of the Knights of the Dawn, and was only employed for his skills, not loyalty."

"Look, we _really_ need your help," said Seth. "The Chronometer needs to be fixed."

"This whole thing seems suspicious. A bunch of random strangers show up and are trying to convince me that they've travelled through time. They appear to need help, but not the kind I can provide. This is something a wizard would need to investigate. How do I know you're not just making this whole thing up, only using me to get to another wizard?"

"Please," said Kendra. "You need to believe us."

"And another thing. What is this whole _Chronometer_ thing about, anyway? You show up with this thing, claiming to come from another time, and your only way back conveniently doesn't work. On top of that, the Chronometer isn't even one of the five artifacts. I don't know where this crazy theory of yours could even come from."

"No offense," said Seth, "but we're not too sold on the whole story of how it _isn't_ an artifact."

"Yet you people claim to be members of the Knights of the Dawn..."

"We are," exclaimed Kendra. "At least, some of us are. The others are all honorary members."

"Which of you here actually are true member?" asked Lady Evangeline.

Kendra, Seth and Warren all raised their hands.

"You three," said Lady Evangeline, pointing at Bracken, Bright and Clover, have no business here."

"Excuse me?" asked Bright.

"If you three are honorary members, then you will have no say in this matter. I am a lieutenant in the Knights of the Dawn and outrank them. You three, state your names and rankings."

"I'm Kendra Sorenson. Engsign."

"Seth Sorenson. Also an ensign."

"As a lieutenant, I outrank you," said Lady Evangeline. "If you keep up with this charade, I can request for you to leave me alone and refrain from bothering me."

"Even if we did outrank you, what good would it do?" asked Warren. "We have no written documentation of our rankings in this time."

"What's your name and ranking?"

"I'm also an ensign," said Warren with a sigh.

"Tell me your name," said Lady Evangeline, "so I can order you to rally your group out of my home."

"Warren Burgess, but so what..."

Lady Evangeline gasped, looking as though she had just seen a ghost.

"Uh, ma'am?" asked Warren.

"Burgess?" she said cautiously. "Why... that's my maiden name."


	18. Artifact Facts

**Chapter 18: Artifact Facts**

For a moment, there was nothing but a pause. Nobody made any movement nor any sound. It was though they were all as frozen as statues.

"You," said Lady Evangeline, finally breaking the silence. "This can't be a coincidence, it just can't! Your surname is indeed Burgess?"

Warren nodded. "My family's lineage with the Knights of the Dawn goes back for many generations."

"You seem sincere. As though you're being truthful and honest. I trust you. But, this whole scenario, it does seem a bit extravagant."

"I know it seems like a lot to swallow," said Clover. "But, long story short, our preserve was in danger, and our only option to save it seemed to be to travel back in time. But, things kind of got out of our control..."

"Your preserve?" asked Lady Evangeline. "Which preserve is that?"

"It doesn't actually exist yet," replied Bracken. "But it's going to be where Zoverdom is constructing that vault."

"Because we knew about the vault," said Warren, "when we were in the distant past, we planted ourselves where it would be built, which is how Zoverdom found us."

"I think I understand it," said Lady Evangeline. "Sort of."

"What about you?" asked Seth. "What's your story?"

"Well, I joined the Knights of the Dawn due to my family's history with the organization. As part of my duty, I've been entrusted with the knowledge and safekeeping of the five magical artifacts. Regrettably, I do not know where one of them lies."

"Who else knows about them?" asked Kendra.

"Others, but I can't say whom. Not even the Captain knows. It's not that I don't trust him, it's just that I don't feel anybody should know, so we tell the Captain fibs."

"So your duty is to keep the artifacts, their locations and their existence a secret?" asked Seth.

"That is correct. But you seem to already know about the location of the new vault."

"Well, we did find out eventually," said Warren. "Only that doesn't happen for a long time. If we could just get back to our proper time, we'd be on our way."

Lady Evangeline scratched her head. "Well, therein still lies another problem. How do we get you back?"

"Well, we were hoping that someone from this time would possess the know-how to restore our Chronometer," said Kendra. "That's why we arranged to be discovered at the location of the new vault."

"But you're claiming that the Chronometer is unheard of, that it's not one of the five artifacts," noted Bright.

"Well, it isn't," retorted Lady Evangeline. "And besides, if you managed to get to this point in from a previous age without the Chronometer, what's to stop you from just using that same method to get back to your time?"

"When we go into stasis, we have no control over when we can exit," answered Clover. "And we can't arrange for someone to come and get us in our current time."

"I know," said Seth. "What if we left a note with the Knights of the Dawn? The note would be dated to not open until our time. Once they read it, the Knights will know where to find us, and can come to our rescue."

"A good idea," said Lady Evangeline. "But something like this is too risky to leave with the Knights of the Dawn. Information such as this can't be shared with everyone. Despite my best intentions, someone else might open the letter prematurely and rescue you before your time. Or, they may never rescue you at all."

"We've got another problem," said Warren. "The Chronometer. Like it or not, in our time it serves as one of the five keys to Zzyzx. If it's meaningless in this time, how does it become so important in the future?"

"This really is a conundrum," said Lady Evangeline. "I have no choice but to mull over the whole situation tonight. You are all welcome to spend the night here, but I must warn you, I only have so many beds."

"It's not a problem for us," said Bright. "Look."

Bright waved her hands and magically produced a whole bed in the center of the room.

Kendra and Seth were escorted upstairs by Lady Evangeline into a guest bedroom, where a pair of twin beds had been made up. After crawling under the covers, Lady Evangeline returned several minutes later with a cup of tea for each of them.

Kendra and Seth soon fell asleep. Their lives had been very hectic for the past few days, and at least now they could go to sleep, knowing that they wouldn't wake up to either danger or their doom. In this time, there was no Oblivion, nor were there any dinosaurs.

The next morning, Kendra was awoken by somebody knocking on the door to their room. "Come in," she said.

Warren entered the room. He was wearing a different change of clothes. Ones that looked more contemporary to the current time period.

"Hey, Warren," said Kendra, slowly rising out of bed. The noise had also woken up Seth.

"Thanks for not saying anything yesterday," said Warren. "You know, about what happens in the future to Evangeline."

"I wanted to tell her," said Seth. "About the Sphinx. And the Font of Immortality."

"Me too. But it's best we didn't. If somebody found out the truth about the Sphinx who wasn't supposed to, they could take action and put an end to his reign, ultimately changing history. We might even create a paradox and ultimately cease to exist. The less we do to change anything in this time, the better."

"You sure?" asked Seth.

"I believe so. Before all this happened, I've thought about using the Chronometer to go back in time to prevent disasters, like killing Hitler or stopping the September 11 attacks. But that would create a paradox wherein those disasters never happened, thus causing history to play out differently."

"If we could go back to our proper time," said Kendra, "right now, what would happen?"

"Well, we'd still have the Chronometer to figure out," said Warren. "Think about it. Something obviously happened between now and when Patton found the Chronometer in the 1800's, or else there wouldn't have been a Chronometer there for him to find."

"I got it," said Seth. "Maybe, if we can't get back to our time, we could just leave the Chronometer at Lost Mesa. That way, it will at least be there for Patton to find."

"Hold on," said Kendra. "You're saying that if we just leave the Chronometer at Lost Mesa, it'll maintain the time stream?"

Warren shrugged. "It's not that simple. First of all, Patton won't know to look for the Chronometer at Lost Mesa."

"But that could be remedied by just sharing that information with the Knights, so that it gets passed down to him," stated Seth.

"Which brings me to my next point. As far as Lady Evangeline or Zoverdom are concerned, the Chronometer is not one of the five artifacts. That Skullifier is. Lastly, the Chronometer doesn't even work."

"Well, maybe somebody fixes it," said Kendra. "If not before it's hidden, then when Patton finds it."

"Who knows," said Warren. "Anyway, Lady Evangeline is downstairs preparing breakfast. You two should get freshened up."

Kendra and Seth followed Warren downstairs and into a room with a wooden tub and several buckets.

"Take water from the clean bucket and use it wash your face over the empty one," said Warren. "There's no indoor plumbing, so you'll have to make do."

Following Warren's advice, Seth soaked his face with clean water and lathered his hands with some homemade soap, then scrubbed his face clean and washed it off. Kendra did the same.

Kendra and Seth found their way into the dining room, where Warren, Bracken, Bright and Clover were all seated. Also sitting on top of the table were Raxtus and Geminus, both in their human and fairy forms. Seth saw them as butterflies, for he had not had any magical milk this morning. Lady Evangeline entered the dining room, carrying two plates of fried eggs and toast.

"You don't need to tire yourself out," said Clover. "We can use our power to create food."

"Don't be so modest," said Lady Evangeline. "I enjoy cooking. I hardly ever get so many guests."

Once Kendra and Seth sat down, they were each served a plate of fried eggs and toast. They dressed the toast with butter and were also given freshly-squeezed orange juice to drink. The butter had to have been magical, as Seth could now see Raxtus and Geminus' real forms.

"I am expecting a visit from Gilvenoff," said Lady Evangeline"

"Kendra shook her head. "Gilvenoff?"

"Maybe you haven't heard. But Gilvenoff is a wizard. He helped create the five artifacts in the first place. If anybody can figure out this mystery, it's him."

Everyone continued to eat their breakfast, until they were interrupted by someone knocking on the front door. Lady Evangeline got up from the table and opened it.

"Greetings, Lady Evangeline," said a man's voice from the the other room.

"Welcome, Gilvenoff," said Lady Evangeline, as she proceeded to walk back towards the dining room. "Please, follow me."

Lady Evangeline returned to the dining room, now accompanied by Gilvenoff himself. Gilvenoff wore a glossy silver robe lined with golden trimming. He sported a braided beard that trailed down to his chest and also had an ever longer braided ponytail.

"Gilvenoff," said Lady Evangeline, I'd like you to meet Kendra and Seth Sorenson, Warren Burgess, Bracken, Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus. These folks are all Knights of the Dawn. But they came here from the future, using a device called the Chronometer that can send its users through time."

"Is that so?" asked Gilvenoff. "Impressive. No contemporary wizard has mastered time travel."

"We can't take all the credit," said Warren. "See, we didn't actually _build_ the Chronometer."

"Well, who did?"

"Honestly, we were led to believe that it was you, or one of your allies," said Seth. "It was one of the five keys to Zzyzx."

"Gilvenoff shook his head. "I'm sorry, but none of the artifacts even have that power. As one of the creators of the artifacts, I can say that with confidence."

"You don't understand," said Bracken. "In the future, the Chronometer is one of the five keys capable of opening Zzyzx. If it's not, things could be a lot different."

"How?" asked Lady Evangeline.

"We can't say. I'm sorry, but we've lived in the future, where the Chronometer is considered one of the five artifacts. We can't risk telling you what happens and why. You'll take precautions you didn't actually take in our past, and things won't play out the way they're supposed to."

"Well, I don't know what happened," said Gilvenoff. "But I know nothing of this Chronometer. Where did you find it?"

"We won't get into too much detail," said Warren. "But, it was discovered at the Lost Mesa preserve."

"Lost Mesa? There's no artifact hidden there, I assure you."

"Then where are the five instruments?" asked Bright.

"I only know the locations of four of them, I'm afraid."

"Oh, really? Why _not_ all five?"

"I bet the unknown one is actually the Chronometer," said Seth.

"Listen to me," said Gilvenoff. "Four of the instruments are in vaults, of which I know the locations of. One of them is the Sands of Sanctity, which is going to be transported to the new vault that Zoverdom is constructing. I also know the location of three other instruments, one of which is the Skullifier."

"Time out," said Bracken. "Forgive us, but we know pretty much nothing about this _Skullifier_ that we've heard so much about. Care to elaborate?"

"Very well," said Gilvenoff. "After Zzyzx was built, I was assigned with the task of creating one of the five keys to the demon prison. The five keys needed to be objects of unparallelled power in order to withstand the magic that sealed off Zzyzx from the rest of the world. My objective was to create an object that could cancel out almost any sort of magic."

"What do you mean?" asked Seth.

"The Skullifier eliminates magic. If somebody or something has been cursed or hexed or enchanted the Skullifier has the power to remove any magic that has been cast. Observe."

Gilvenoff waved his fingers, causing a metal cup to float up off of the table and into the air. "See how I've enchanted this cup, thus enabling it to float? Well, if one were to use the Skullifier on it, the magic holding it in place would cease to exist, causing it to fall down."

Clover shot a small blast of green energy at the floating cup, causing it to drop to the floor with a bang. "No offense, but knocking down floating cups isn't exactly a huge feat."

Gilvenoff stroked his beard. "It goes beyond mere parlor tricks such as that," said Gilvenoff. "The Skullifier can cancel out any magic. Fairies, such as the ones at this table, would be stripped of their power if it were used against them. Theoretically, if one were to get ahold of the Skullifier, getting through the other vaults would be simple. You could just use the Skullifier to bypass any barriers and distractor spells and disable all the traps."

Warren shook his head. "Why create something so devastating?"

"To prove that I could. The Skullifier doesn't need to be used maliciously, although I do have my regrets about making it. If someone else could gets their hands on it, it's not my fault what they do with it."

"It's too bad we don't have a Skullifier in our time," said Seth.

"What do you mean?" asked Gilvenoff.

"Well, in our time, we're being threatened by a powerful dark fairy," answered Raxtus. "She's the reason we resorted to travelling back in time in the first place."

"But if we had the Skullifier," said Seth, "we could stop her and her magic."

"You know what," said Warren, "that really isn't a bad idea. If we could return to our time, we could retrieve the Skullifier and use it to trounce Oblivion."

"But we're still left with the issue of the Chronometer," said Kendra. "How does it wind up being one of the five artifacts?"

"Just so we're clear on this," said Warren, "the five artifacts, as far as Gilvenoff is concerned, are the Skullifier, Sands of Sanctity, Occulus, Translocator and the Font of Immortality?"

"That's correct," said Gilvenoff.

"Gilvenoff," said Kendra, "would you at least be willing to take a look at the Chronometer? It doesn't work, but maybe you could determine what is wrong with it?"

"It'll be hard to diagnose something I am unfamilar with. But looking at it shouldn't hurt."

Bright presented the Chronometer to Gilvenoff and placed it down on the table in front of him.

"Interesting," said Gilvenoff, as he proceeded to examine the outer workings of the Chronometer. Very interesting. You say that this device enables the user to travel through time?"

"Correct," said Kendra.

"I'm sensing tremendous power from within this object," said Gilvenoff, rolling the Chronometer around in his hands. "If this thing does indeed have the power to travel through time, I wouldn't be one to doubt it."

"So, could you maybe get it working again?" asked Geminus.

"I don't know. You see, while I am sensing power from the Chronometer, I am also sensing a negative force. One that is overwhelming the true power of the device."

"Well, that's because we last used the Chronometer when a powerful spell was in effect," said Bright. "Its energy must still be lingering within the Chronometer and preventing it from working."

"You think maybe you could remove that negative power?" asked Seth. "It would solve our dilemma."

"I don't know how I would go about doing that," replied Gilvenoff. "For you see, because the Chronometer is so powerful in and of itself, its power has been crossed with the negative energy that's cursed it. In short, it's too powerful for me to remove."

"Too powerful for you?" scoffed Warren. "You built the Skullifier!"

"The Skullifier is bound by the magic that keeps Zzyzx sealed. I don't have the ability to just create something with that amount of power on a mere whim."

"Wait a minute," said Seth. "What if we managed to get ahold of the Skullifier? Would we then be able to neutralize the negative magic that's disabled the Chronometer?"

"In theory it should work. Of course, this means that the Chronometer would lose all of its power in the process, but recharging it shouldn't be an issue. I'm sensing fairy energy from most of you here, and a wizard such myself would also possess the power to do so."

"Great!" said Bright. "But, what happens in the future? How do we arrive at a point where the Chronometer is one of the keys in place of the Skullifier, and the actual Skullifier is unheard of?"

Everyone stopped to think. Clearly _something_ had to have happened to the Skullifier for it to be replaced by the Chronometer. But what? And why?

"I've got an idea," said Warren. "First we retrieve the Skullifier from its vault and use it to restore the Chronometer."

"That was my suggestion," said Seth.

"I wasn't finished. Gilvenoff, would you be able to possbily transfer the Skullifier's status as a key to the restored Chronometer?"

Gilvenoff twirled his beard within his fingers. "It wouldn't be impossible. But it's something that should be within my power. After all, I did create it."

"Good," said Warren. "This would allow the Chronometer to be the fifth key, in place of the Skullifier. That way, we can hide the Skullifier and collect it in future without it getting caught up in the whole Zzyzx ordeal."

Kendra nodded. "I think I understand where you're going with this."

"Anyway, we could use the Chronometer to travel to our proper time in the future. But, we leave it with someone from this time, who in turn uses it to return to 1689."

"Why would we want to do what?" asked Seth. "We're left without a Chronometer, then."

"Au contraire," said Warren. "As a key to Zzyzx, it can then be left at Lost Mesa for it to be discovered in the future, which will ultimately happen. In a sense, we're trading our Chronometer for their Skullifier."

"That's so crazy, it actually makes sense," said Clover. "The Chronometer is in the past, because we brought it here from our time."

"Yet it was found at Lost Mesa," said Seth, "because we're going to be leaving it here, just it can be hidden at Lost Mesa to be found again..."

Warren laughed. "I guess in order to maintain a steady history, we've got to keep the Chronometer running through a consistent time loop."

"Weird..." muttered Seth.


	19. Vaulting Ahead

**Chapter 19: Vaulting Ahead**

Warren rubbed his hands together and looked around at everybody. "Well, I guess it's best that we set out to search for the Skullifier. The sooner we get started on this, the better."

"Wait a moment," said Kendra. "We don't even know where the Skullifier _is_."

Gilvenoff gave everybody a stern look. "Are you sure you wish to know its location? Not having knowledge of where the Skullifier is being held may actually be your best protection from it."

"We're not stupid," said Seth. "We know better than to misuse the Skullifier once we have it. How dangerous can it actually be?"

"The Skullifier on its own will be of no harm to you. The vault which protects it is another story."

"Where is this vault?" asked Kendra.

"The Skullifier is located at the Dynasty Acres preserve, located in southern China."

"Dynasty Acres," said Warren. "I've heard of it, but I've never actually been there."

"The vault within Dynasty Acres is known as Eerie Mountain."

"Eerie Mountain?" asked Seth. "Sounds like fun!"

"You wouldn't want to go to Eerie Mountain if you can avoid it," said Gilvenoff. "The whole place was designed to test one's courage."

"Weren't all the vaults meant to be like that?" asked Kendra. "They're all dangerous and frightening, are they not?"

"Not like Eerie Mountain. This vault senses your worst fears and brings them to life. The hazards that Eerie Mountain can throw at you fluctuate based on what you're actually scared of."

"It sets up traps according to your fears?" asked Seth. "That's perfect! As a shadow charmer, nothing that Eerie Mountain can throw at me I'll find scary."

Gilvenoff sighed. "A shadow charmer? That's what I was sensing from you, then. But even so, just because you have a way of coping with fear doesn't necessarily mean that there's nothing capable of scaring you."

"It can't be that bad."

"It can be. If you're highly afraid of say... swords, the magic of Eerie Mountain could conjure up thousands of swords that are capable of harming you. It's no illusion. Your worst fears will come to life at this place. The only way past would be to conquer your fears. To succumb to your fears would be your demise."

"What if we increased our courage?" asked Seth. "Like with a potion or something?"

Gilvenoff shook his head. "I'm afraid that won't help. It could make you too overconfident. Everyone has something they fear. And if you're convinced you're confident enough in that you fear absolutely nothing, Eerie Mountain will _create_ something capable of scaring you."

"We've really got to go through all that?" asked Bright. "Why not just leave the Skullifier where it is and find another way back to our time if we can't use the Chronometer? We weren't even after the Skullifier in the first place."

"Because if we don't retrieve the Skullifier and exchange it with the Chronometer," said Warren, "then there will have never been a Chronometer for us to use in the first place."

"Well that's a relief," said Seth. "Since the Chronometer found its way to Lost Mesa, then obviously we were triumphant in retrieving it from Eerie Mountain. Whew! Crisis averted."

"Not necessarily," said Warren. "While I am under the impression that the Skullifier does get retrieved from Eerie Mountain to transfer its status as a key to the Chronometer, who's to say that _we_ were the ones who succeeded in discovering it?"

"What do you mean?" asked Clover, placing a hand around Warren's wrist.

"I'm saying that we might not be the ones who succeed in recovering the Skullifier. Another group after us might ultimately be the ones who get through. We could very well fail this mission, and by fail, I mean die."

"Then, it doesn't matter what we do," said Kendra. "Since in our time, _somebody_ obviously pulled this off."

"Are we just supposed to wait around until somebody solves our problems for us?" asked Raxtus.

"You've got a point," said Geminus. "That may never happen. We might be the ones who have to get through Eerie Mountain."

"Then what are we afraid of?" asked Seth. "You guys have gotten through other dangerous vaults in the past, and they couldn't have been all that much better than this one? And we've got two fairy angels, two fairy dragons and a unicorn on our side. I say let's go for it!"

"Well then," said Gilvenoff. "I'll have to contact the caretaker of Dynasty Acres and let him know that you're coming."

* * *

A few minutes later, everybody was standing in the park where the group had landed the previous day.

"All right," said Gilvenoff. "I've sent a notification of your arrival to Deng Yu, the caretaker of Dynasty Acres. I've explained the situation to him, and he'll be ready to present you with the key to Eerie Mountain."

"But, where exactly is Dynasty Acres?" asked Kendra. "China's one the largest countries in the world."

"I've marked it's location on a map," said Lady Evangeline, presenting a rolled up parchment to Kendra.

"And if that is not enough," said Gilvenoff, "I've also re-enchanted the compass that brought you here. It will now guide you to the front gate of Dynasty Acres."

Seth pulled out the compass and glanced at the needle. As he was unfamiliar with his surroundings, he didn't know which direction in which it was actually pointing.

"Thank you so much for trusting us," said Warren. "As a sign of our proof, please hold onto the Chronometer for the time being."

"I couldn't say no to a Burgess," said Lady Evangeline, giving Warren a hug. "It just felt so right and sincere." She then accepted the Chronometer from him.

"Hey, technically we descended from the Burgess family too!" exclaimed Seth. "Our grandmother was a Burgess!"

"We'll keep this whole thing a secret as best we can," said Gilvenoff.

"I guess we're good to go," said Bracken.

"Thanks for all your help," said Kendra. "If we actually live through all of this, we'll hurry back here right away."

"Uh, that reminds me," said Warren. "Where is _here_, anyway?"

"This place?" asked Lady Evangeline. This is the township of Philadelphia. Are you aware of it in your time?"

"Philadelphia?" asked Warren with a grin. "I think that place rings a bell."

"If all is said and done," said Gilvenoff, "then take care. I wish you all the best."

"Good luck," said Lady Evangeline.

Raxtus and Geminus nodded, then reverted into their dragon forms before everybody. Bracken himself stepped forward and transformed into his unicorn form.

"Fairy dragons," said Gilvenoff, as Kendra climbed up onto Bracken's back. "How very distinct."

"If we can get through this," said Warren, "we'll come back here right away. I promise."

Once everyone was ready, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all took a running start, spread out their wings and leapt into the air. Looking back down below, Kendra and Seth watched as Lady Evangeline and Gilvenoff waved farewell to them, quickly vanishing in the distance as they grew further and further away.

Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus soared higher and higher into the air, until they had risen above the clouds.

"We want to go that way," said Seth, pointing in the direction that the compass needle was leading him towards.

"Is anyone having second thoughts about this?" asked Kendra. "I mean, we're complete strangers to everyone in this time, yet they've expressed no real concern over sending us to retrieve the Skullifier, just so that we can exchange it with our Chronometer."

"Gilvenoff and Zoverdom recognized Bracken and I as children of the Fairy Queen," said Bright. "I get the feeling that's what secured our trust with them."

"And Lady Evangeline discovered that I was her family," added Warren. "Although that felt more like dumb luck than anything."

"But to just grant us access onto a secret preserve like this?" asked Raxtus. "Sounds pretty unusual."

"I agree" added Geminus.

"Look, I just want to go home," said Seth. "I'm beginning to miss my family."

"How do you think we feel?" asked Raxtus. "We left our little girl back in the apocalyptic future at Fablehaven. If we can't get back to our proper time, we may never see her again."

"We've got family too, you know," said Bracken. "And in case you forgot, our sisters have been immobilized again!"

"Can we please stop arguing?" asked Warren. "None of us _wants_ to be here, trying to find some artifact we've only just heard of."

"Sorry, but I'm just uptight," said Bright. "You think I'm looking forward to a vault that caters to our worst fears?"

The group flew onwards for several more hours, stopping in a grove near the west coast of the continent for a meal break and a rest. Once they were ready to go, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus flew back into the air, and were soon flying over the Pacific Ocean.

* * *

Many hours later, Seth glanced at the compass that had been clenched in his hand, when he noticed that the needle was pointing in the opposite direction.

"Geminus!" he cried. "The compass! It's leading us the other way!"

"What?" asked the pink fairy dragon, coming to a halt in mid-air.

"We've gone too far!"

"How far is too far?" asked Raxtus.

"I don't know! All I know is that we need to go back the other way for a bit."

"You were supposed to be keeping an eye on the compass!" snapped Raxtus.

"Yeah, well this trip's been taking forever! It's a lot further from Philadelphia to... wherever we are, than it is from Fablehaven to Philly. So sorry if I missed our stop!"

"Enough," said Clover. "Let's just fly closer to the ground and see what we can find."

The group then descended down through the clouds. Beneath them, green countryside stretched from one end of the land to the other, vanishing across the horizon in every direction. Although they were fairly high up, it was still possible to make out where hills, valleys, trees and bodies of water.

Before long, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all flew down towards the ground, where they came to a landing in a clearing. A large iron gate stood before them. It was connected to a fence that stretched into the distance in both directions.

"Is this it?" asked Kendra, gazing between the bars of the fence, but not being able to see anything beyond rows upon rows of trees.

"This has to be it," said Seth observing the needle on the compass.

"Dynasty Acres still exists in our time," said Warren. "I wasn't doubting its existence. I only hope that the current caretakers are as trusting of us as Gilvenoff was. I didn't want to say anything earlier, but Dynasty Acres was overturned by the society back when they were going after the artifacts."

Bracken transformed into his human form, and joined the rest of the group as they walked up to the front of the gate that stood before them. Peering through two of the bars, Seth could see nothing but trees, with no actual path for one to set foot on.

Attached to one of the gateposts was large bell, that was suspended a few feet off the ground. Warren pulled on the rope attached to the bell, causing it to ring.

"I see somebody," said Kendra. Looking through the gate. Indeed, a Chinese man was walking down a path everybody had failed to notice, which led up to the gate. Once he reached the gate, he began looking through the bars at the group.

"There's nobody there," stated Seth.

"Must be a distractor spell," said Bracken. "And a good one at that. Even I'm seeing nothing."

Kendra watched as the man spun a crank on his side of the gate, causing the two large doors to open inward.

"Greetings," said the main, who appeared to be standing between the trunks of two trees. "Please, step forward."

As the group passed through the gate, everyone could see now that they were now on a stone path that had not been apparent from the outside.

"I got word of your arrival from Gilvenoff," said the man. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Deng Yu."

"Warren Burgess," said Warren, "I..."

Before Warren could continue, a large, red, Chinese dragon walked up next to Deng Yu and peered down at the visitors. Although it had small limbs, it possessed a long, red, serpent-like body, a mane of smooth yellow hair on its head, and antlers in place of horns. Compared to Raxtus and Geminus, the Chinese dragon was quite large. It let out a loud roar and revealed its massive fangs to the group.

"Xiantu!" exclaimed Deng Yu, who proceeded to scold the dragon in Mandarin. Once he had finished, Xiantu let out a mild growl and turned away from the group.

"What's his problem?" asked Seth.

"Xiantu," said Raxtus, "we come in peace."

Although Kendra and Geminus could hear Raxtus word for word, what he was saying sounded like little more than hisses and growls to the others.

"This is my home, puny one," said Xiantu, in a feminine voice. "How dare you waltz in and seize my preserve's treasure? Although I do not agree with my caretaker's decision, I will not fight him over it. I hope you perish at Eerie Mountain."

"What are they saying?" asked Seth.

"I'm can't translate, but I can tell that Xiantu doesn't agree with your presence," said Deng Yu. "If it were up to her, outsiders would never gain entry to this preserve."

"Can't say that we blame her," said Clover. "We realize how sudden this whole thing is."

"Please, follow me," said Deng Yu, walking down the path with Xiantu at his side. Seth imagined that the dragon would be right at home at a Chinese New Year's parade.

They ventured further down the path, passing by a lush assortment of gardens filled with bonsai trees and multitudes of flowers. Fairies were floating about, although nobody had the chance to stop and observe them.

"That dragon's a jerk," whispered Seth to his comrades.

"I think she's a guardian of the preserve," said Warren. "Similar to Hugo. Kendra, you remember Felvanor, the quetzalcoatl from Rio Branco? He had a similar role as well."

"At least Felvanor was somewhat accommodating."

"Different circumstances, though," said Bright. "Xiantu may not agree with us, but there is no need to provoke her."

They then crossed a bridge over over a small river, on the other side of which, Seth spotted several panda bears. "Are those pandas? Cool."

"They are," said Deng Yu. "Although they are not magical creatures of any sort, I have allowed them to live on the preserve to further attempts of hunters pursuing them."

Soon they approached a pagoda, which was surrounded a large, lush flower garden, adorned with tiny ponds, lily pads and rocks.

"I'll leave you now," huffed Xiantu, as she turned away from the group and crawled away in another direction.

"Please, come inside," said Deng Yu, walking up towards the entrance to the pagoda. No more than two stories high, the red building sported two layers of sleek, slanted, shingled black roofs.

Inside the pagoda was a large table in the centre of the room, with several wooden chairs lined up on both sides. Plants, Ming vases and a fireplace adorned the walls of the room. A woman in a beige robe and a braided ponytail walked up to Deng Yu and spoke to him in Mandarin. Deng Yu responded to her by also speaking in Mandarin.

"This is my wife, Jinghua," said Deng Yu. "Please understand that she does not speak English. She will be happy to prepare a meal for you. I realize that I do not have much in the way of accommodations, but please make yourself at home."

Roughly half an hour later, everyone was seated at the table, except for Raxtus and Geminus, who were in their human and fairy forms, sitting on one of the table's corners.

Jinghua brought many bowls of soup and dumplings to the table, which were served to everyone there.

"Appetizers," said Seth pleasantly. "All right! Bring on the sweet and sour pork and beef chow mein!"

"Something tells me this _is_ the whole dinner," said Kendra quietly, to her brother.

"What can you tell us about Eerie Mountain?" asked Bracken, after taking a sip of his egg drop soup.

"I'm afraid I know very little," replied Deng Yu. "I have never dared travel near it. But I know this. It cannot be conquered by fewer than three people. Cheaters will not prosper there. All obstacles must be overcome without magic. The obstacles can be anything that you are afraid of."

"Has anyone ever attempted to enter the vault in the past?"

"In its entire history, nobody that I am aware of. I've been told that some of the artifact vaults on the other hidden preserves are protected by traps or dangerous creatures. I've gone near the entrance to the vault without consequence. Although I suppose, if you want to get technical, Xiantu roosts atop Eerie Mountain. She has been living here since the preserve was founded, and is highly territorial of the mountain. If an outsider did attempt to breach the mountain, she would most definitely retaliate. Removing the artifact resting within may dishonor her."

"With all due respect," said Seth, "we kinda need the Skullifier."

"Understood. It took much convincing, but I have agreed with him to grant you access to the vault. However, I am able to offer no further assistance. Whether or not the vault takes your life, even though it is within my preserve, I can hold no responsibility for what happens to you inside of it."

"We're aware of the risk," said Warren.

"Then rest up," said Deng Yu. Tomorrow morning, I will present to you the vault key and lead you over to the mountain. But once you enter, you will be on your own."

After dinner, Jinghua laid out several mats and pillows along the floor for the group to sleep on. Although it was daylight due to passing through many timezones, it had been a long, hard day for the entire group. Deng Yu and Jinghua left the Knights of the Dawn alone as they all fell asleep.


	20. Eerie Mountain

**Chapter 20: Eerie Mountain**

The next morning, Kendra and Seth had been woken up by Jinghua, who was preparing rice balls and tea for breakfast. After freshening up, the Knights of the Dawn found themselves seat at the table where they ate a quick breakfast before beginning their next expedition.

Once the Knights ventured out of the pagoda, they waited around for Deng Yu to join them. Now that she was standing still, Kendra was able to admire the surrounding garden at her own pace. Several fairies flew up to her, most of which had Asian features to their bodies.

"There's something unusual about this one," said a fairy, whose pink wings resembled rose petals.

"Hey, there," said Kendra, not wanting to attract too much attention.

"She speaks our own tongue?" asked another fairy. "She _is_ special."

"Don't take it personally, but I can't stay and chat for too long. At least you're nicer than Xiantu,"

"Xiantu is wonderful," said the first fairy. "Overprotective, but wonderful."

Kendra rolled her eyes. "You know anything about Eerie Mountain?"

"We don't care for that area," said a third fairy. "Xiantu discourages anyone from venturing there."

"Here is the key to Eerie Mountain," said Deng Yu, whose voice distracted Kendra from the fairies.

Turning her head, Kendra saw that Deng Yu was carrying a brass statuette of a Chinese Dragon. Roughly three feet in length, the statuette, which Deng Yu was holding with both hands, instantly reminded Kendra and Seth of Xiantu."

"This is the key," said Deng Yu, presenting the statuette to Warren. "I call it Little Dragon. If someone can provide me with a lift, I will not need to summon big dragon.

Deng Yu ended up riding on Geminus along with Seth, while Kendra and Bright rode on Bracken, and Warren and Clover rode on Raxtus. Deng Yu then guided the group into the air and across the preserve.

Looking down from his ride, Seth could see various magical creatures, including something that resembled a horse, and birds with long, elegant tail feathers, similar to birds of paradise, only much larger.

After passing over several small hills, they came across a seemingly normal-looking mountain. Not too big or conspicuous, there was a rope bridge, roughly fifty feet in length, connecting the edge of a cliff to an alcove that had been hollowed into the side of the mountain.

As the group flew over the chasm that separated the mountain from the mainland, Xiantu crawled down the side of the mountain and blocked the alcove with part of her body.

"Go no further!" she roared.

"Xiantu," said Deng Yu, "stop this nonsense."

Xiantu opened her mouth an exhaled a wave of vibrant green fire that missed the group by only a few feet.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Geminus.

"You must not go through Eerie Mountain."

"Why not?" asked Kendra.

"When I was brought to this preserve as a hatchling, I was ordered by Archadius to never grant anybody access to Eerie Mountain, or I could suffer greatly for it."

"What's she saying?" asked Deng Yu. Kendra told him. "I'm sorry, Xiantu. I've been told differently. Let them through. As the caretaker of Malania Acres, that's an order!"

"I hope you all fail," said Xiantu, as she scampered back up the mountainside.

"I apologize for her behavior," said Deng Yu. "She's very territorial and doesn't quite understand what's going on. Now, let's go down to that opening at the end of the bridge."

The group flew down into the alcove, which was roughly wide enough for a truck to drive through. It was roughly thirty feet from the edge to the far wall. Built into the far wall was a set of steel doors with a dragon design articulately painted across both doors.

Deng Yu led the group up to the centre of the two doors, where there was an uneven indentation forged within them. "Well, this entrance to Eerie Mountain. I'm afraid that I cannot aid you beyond this point. Take care and good luck."

Everyone bid Deng Yu farewell, and watched as he walked across the bridge. Warren then placed Little Dragon into the indentation, in which it fit perfectly. Suddenly, Little Dragon's eyes were glowing green, in spite of the fact that the statuette was entirely brass. Little Dragon sprung to life and leapt out of the lock, back into Warren's arms.

"Cool!" said Seth.

"Something tells me we'll be needing this guy," said Warren, passing Little Dragon to Seth.

Accepting Little Dragon from Warren, Seth allowed the living key to crawl up his arm and onto his shoulder, where it opted to perch. It was not as heavy as he envisioned it would be. Meanwhile, the doors opened inwards, revealing a small tunnel, which did not extend very far.

They walked to the end of the tunnel, where there was another door, three glass orbs on a raised platform, and several signs posted on the walls. Seth looked at the signs. Some were in foreign languages, two were in English, and the rest were in other languages, which he assumed were reserved for various other creatures. As he started to read, he noticed that the two English signs were identical.

_Warning! Only three adventurers may enter at one time. No outside weapons or tools beyond the key are permitted. Magical powers will not work beyond this point. You must overcome your fears in order to proceeded. If you lack courage, turn back now._

"Only three people at once?" asked Bright.

"No magic?" added Clover.

"Why not?" asked Seth.

"Beats me," said Warren. "My guess is that they don't want anyone _cheating_ their way through."

"Well, who should go?" asked Bracken.

"Hard to say," said Warren. "All of us have some magical prowess."

"You three humans are the least magical out of all of us," said Geminus.

"But you dragons are bigger and stronger," noted Seth.

"But our magic, coupled with an inability to use it may hinder us," said Geminus.

"Kendra's fairykind status is an innate ability," said Bright. She doesn't have to trigger it or anything. And I believe Seth's shadow charmer status is similar in that respect."

"All right, then," said Warren. "The three of us will go on."

He then gave Clover a hug and kissed her.

"Take care, Kendra," said Bracken, giving her a hug.

"Here goes nothing," said Warren, placing a hand on one of the three orbs. He then motioned for Kendra and Seth to follow his lead.

Nodding, Kendra and Seth each placed a hand on one of the other orbs. The nearby door then slid open, revealing a descending staircase.

"I guess this is it," said Seth, as he, Kendra and Warren walked through the doorway.

"Why can't we come too?" asked Raxtus, as he attempted to walk through the doorway as well, only to get stopped by some sort of invisible force field.

The two groups bid each other farewell, as Kendra, Seth and Warren looked down towards the staircase.

"Careful," said Warren, grabbing Little Dragon off of Seth's shoulders. He tried to place Little Dragon's tail down on the step beneath him, but the statuette wriggled in his hands.

"Maybe you should treat it like a living creature," said Kendra.

"Okay," said Warren. "Little Dragon, walk down these steps, but watch out for false ones.

The dragon dropped out of Warren's arms and proceeded to crawl down the steps. Kendra, Seth and Warren followed it, and mimicked its path as it hopped over particular steps; no doubt those steps were false.

After travelling down the steps for a good minute, the finally reached the bottom. At the bottom were three swords resting in holders that were built into a wall. Warren drew one, prompting Seth and Kendra to do the same with the other two.

The bottom of the staircase led them onto the ledge of an underground chasm. It was a good fifty feet across to the other side, and an unknown distance down into the abyss below.

"Great," said Seth. "How're we supposed to get across _that_?"

"Warren, you've got those fairy wings, right?" asked Kendra.

Warren nodded, then pulled off his shirt, allowing his vibrant green wings to spurt outwards from his shoulder blades. "I'm sure I could carry you one at a time."

Warren walked in front of Kendra and lifted her off of her feet, placing her arms over his shoulders. Kendra and Seth both waited, but nothing happened.

"My wings," said Warren. "I can't flap them."

"Put me down," said Kendra. Warren did so, but was still unable to move his wings.

"What's wrong?" asked Seth.

"It must be a security measure of the vault," said Warren, putting his shirt back on.

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

An idea then popped into Kendra's head. She aimed the sword she was holding down over the edge of the ledge until it stopped in midair, unable to press it further. Something was blocking it.

"I got it," said Kendra. "There's a path across. It's just invisible."

Warren sensed the path with the tip of his sword. "She's right. But let me take the lead."

As Warren walked out onto the invisible ledge, Kendra and Seth watched the soles of his shoes cushion as made contact with it. He motioned for Kendra and Seth to follow him.

Disregarding his better judgement, Seth placed one foot forward onto the unseen ledge, which supported his foot. The other foot followed, bringing his entire body onto the ledge.

From Kendra's perspective, both Seth and Warren appeared to be standing in midair. Feeling a tad more confident, Kendra stepped out onto the invisible ledge herself. She felt relieved once she sensed that the ledge was truly supporting her.

Warren continued down the ledge, using his sword as a walking stick to test the path ahead of him. Once he was roughly halfway across, the stick fell beneath his level, indicating there was no solid ground ahead.

"Careful," said Warren. "The path ends at this point."

"But we've still got a ways to go," said Seth, figuring there were still a good twenty feet or so left to go.

Warren knelt down and stretched his sword forward as far as he could reach. "It continues, but there's a good two-foot gap right here. We could jump it."

Warren backed up and ran towards the gap, then leapt forward over the gap. It was hard to get a sense of what he had done, as the ledges were invisible.

Getting a sense of where the first ledge ended, Seth fretted that if he jumped too early, or was too late, he'd fall through the gap. Nevertheless, he made a running leap over towards Warren, and landed safely.

"Your turn," said Warren, facing Kendra. "You can do this!"

Using the same instinct as Seth, Kendra took a running start and jumped over the gap. Once she landed, Kendra felt that there was nothing beneath her heels, causing her to start slipping backwards.

"I gotcha," said Warren grabbing Kendra's wrist before she could fall, and pulled her up.

"Thank you," said Kendra, realizing how close she had come to falling to her death.

Warren led way to the end of the path, reaching the other side of the chasm, where the ground was visible again. Within the wall was another tunnelled-in staircase leading downwards.

"That was rough," said Seth. "But what's that got to do with sensing our fear?"

"Everyone's afraid of heights," said Warren. "Seemed like a no-brainer for the builders."

The group continued down the next flight of stairs, which brought them out into a cavernous room, which appeared to be seemingly empty, save for an exit along the far end.

"Watch your guard," said Warren, leading Seth and Kendra across the room. Once they had reached the halfway point, their physical surroundings started warbling in and out of existence.

"What's going on?" asked Kendra.

The warbling effect stopped, revealing that they were now in a dimly lit room filled with crates and barrels.

"What happened?" asked Seth.

"Oh no," said Warren, looking around at his surroundings. "Not this."

"Is this, the knapsack?" asked Kendra, as her heart started to race.

"It is," said Warren, sounding legitimately frightened. "No. It can't be true."

Warren ran over to the far wall, where there were rungs leading to the ceiling, and proceeded to climb up them. He stopped upon reaching the ceiling.

"I can't get out!" he cried. "Not again!"

"Warren," said Seth. "This might not be real."

"What if it is?" asked Kendra. "We're trapped in here."

"No!" blared Warren, holding onto the top rung with one wrist and banging the ceiling with the other. "No!"

"The vent!" exclaimed Seth, looking over towards one of the side walls.

"You'll never fit!" exclaimed Warren, as he hopped down from the rungs.

"Warren," said Kendra, grabbing her cousin by his arm. "Get a grip on yourself."

"No!" bawled Warren, as tears started to trickle from his eyes. "I'll never get out! We'll never get out!"

"What's going on, Kendra?" asked Seth, as Warren sat down on the floor, tucked his head between his knees and continued crying. I've never seen Warren like this. He's always been so fearless, no he just broke down."

"I don't know," said Kendra. "But this room must've sensed one of Warren's inner fears and brought it to life. It's power is probably filling Warren's heart with magical fear to make him even more terrified. Probably to keep him from conquering his fear naturally."

"We've got to convince him that this is just an illusion," said Seth, giving Warren a hug.

"Not now, Bubda," sobbed Warren.

"Bubda?" asked Seth, as he suddenly began shrinking in size and his skin became all scaly. "What's happening?"

"Seth," said Kendra. "You've turned into... Bubda."

"I'm not Bubda," said Seth, now speaking in the hermit troll's voice, he looked at his body, and saw just how much he had changed.

"Guys!" shrieked Kendra. "What's going on?"

Seth looked around. He could hear Kendra, but could not see her.

"Kendra!" cried Seth. "You're invisible!"

"Do something!" she said. Seth failed to hear her.

"Kendra! I can't hear you! Where did you go?"

"I'm right here," said Kendra. She attempted to touch Seth, but her arm passed right through him, as though she was a ghost. All she could do watch stand and watch.

"Warren!" exclaimed Seth, tugging on his shoulder. Warren turned back, and Seth could see tears flowing down his inexplicably long beard.

Suddenly, something appeared in Seth's hand. It was a Yahtzee box.

"Warren, want to play game? Why I talk this way?"

"Leave me alone," cried Warren, refuse to move from his fetal position.

Seth stopped to think. The room was recreating Warren's time in the knapsack, and doing a good job of it, too. He looked at the Yahtzee box he was holding. It looked like it had been produced in the 1950's.

"That's it!" said Seth. "Warren! This place all pretend!"

"No, it's real!" screamed Warren.

"Yes it is! We travel back in time to 1689. Yahtzee created in 1950's!"

"So what?"

"How can game from future be here in past? It impossible! This place not real!"

"It's... not real?"

In a flash of light, the knapsack reverted back into the cavern. Kendra was visible again and Seth was human.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Seth. "Warren?"

Warren stood up from his curled up position. His long hair and beard were gone, but his tears remained. "It's gone," he said, in a sigh of relief, as he wiped away his tears.

"What happened?" asked Kendra.

"The vault brought a fear of mine to life. But by proving it was false, Seth broke the spell. Thank you."

"Anything to get out of being Bubda."

"_You_ were Bubda?" asked Warren. "Man, I must've really been out of it. if I'd known better, I probably would've been laughing my head off. Anyway, let's get going."

They continued to the end of the room and ventured down the stairs, until they found themselves situated on one side of a chasm. A thick, white tightrope, connected one side of the chasm to the other. Looking down at the tightrope, Kendra noticed that it was made up of countless smaller threads, all woven together. The rope appeared to be about three feet wide, enough for them to walk upon so long as they were careful.

"Is this another room to test one's fear of heights?" asked Seth.

"I dunno," said Warren. "But it's not doing a bad job."

Warren stepped out onto the tightrope, doing a fine job of keeping his balance. Kendra and Seth followed. It didn't seem so bad. As long as they didn't lose their footing, they would be fine.

Taking it slow and easy, the group made it roughly halfway across the tightrope, when they were nearly caught off guard by a hissing noise from above.

"What was that?" asked Seth. Before anyone could answer, a giant spider dropped down no more than five feet away from the group, dangling from a thread a silk. "A spider?!"

"That's no spider!" exclaimed Warren. "That's a... tyrantula!"

Kendra recalled the tyrantula she had encountered at Labrador Labyrinth, which this one greatly resembled. At least they were able to fight that one on solid ground, not a tightrope woven from its own silk.

"It's eyes!" said Warren, raising his sword.

Clasping to the thread it was hanging from, the tyrantula aimed its spinneret at Warren and sprayed silk at him, encasing his entire arm and sword in silk.

"Guys?" asked Seth.

The tryrantula sprayed more silk at Kendra, wrapping her midsection in its webbing. Unable to wriggle free, the tyrantula pulled Kendra off of the tightrope, causing her to dangle over the abyss, as the massive spider pulled her up towards its fangs. Kendra screamed in horror, as her world had been turned upside-down.

"Leave my sister ALONE!" roared Seth. He held his arm back and hurled his sword directly into one of the tyrantula's bulging green eyes, causing it to squeal in pain.

"Now what?" asked Seth, realizing he had just sacrificed his weapon.

"The dragon!" gasped Warren. "Try Little Dragon!"

As the tyrantula fumbled to dislodge Seth's sword from its eye, Seth held up Little Dragon. "What do I do with this?"

"Little Dragon," said Warren, "can you aim some fire near my arm?"

Little Dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a small wave of green fire close to Warren's arm. The heat of the fire melted the silk, allowing Warren to unravel it with his free hand.

"Thanks!" said Warren, as he tossed the sticky silk at Kendra and tugged it to ensure that it was secured. "All right, Little Dragon. Burn the thread that's connecting Kendra to the tyrantula!"

The statuette used its fire to burn through the thread that Kendra was dangling from. However, she didn't fall, as she was now attached to the thread that Warren had tossed to her. He proceeded to pull her up.

Little Dragon! Burn the thread the tyrantula is dangling from!"

Little Dragon then aimed its fire at the threat. It snapped in two, causing the tyrantula to fall down into the depths of the abyss and out of sight.


	21. Fear Factors

**Chapter 21: Fear Factors**

Literally hanging by a thread, Kendra's body was still dangling over the abyss whilst turned upside-down. Working together, Warren and Seth combined their strength to haul Kendra back up onto the silk tightrope, then positioned her body right-side up.

Kendra breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't believe I'm still alive. Thank you."

"We're not out of the woods yet," said Warren, as Little Dragon melted the silk that had been holding Kendra together. She then peeled the sticky silk off of her body and dropped it down into the abyss.

"Okay, that was pretty frightening," said Seth, as they continued along the tightrope. "But I blame that tyrantula on Kendra. It probably came because she's scared of spiders."

"Am not! Except for that one. I was more worried about falling."

"This might've just been a common phobia that they worked with while building the place," said Warren, as they reached the far side of the chasm. "Whatever this next room holds, we need to be ready for anythingthat we might fear."

_Think of happy thoughts_, Seth told himself in his mind, as they venture down the next flight of stairs. He figured that if he was confident enough, he might succeed in tricking the vault into being unable to detect something he would've been fearful of.

At the bottom of the stairs, they approached a vast room that was seemingly identical to the one which had managed to transform itself into a perfect replica of the inside of the knapsack.

"Be prepared, said Warren, as they all took their first steps into the room.

"Wait," said Kendra. "The previous rooms all unleashed their dangers upon us as we crossed their central areas."

"What are you suggesting?" asked Seth. "We've got to cross the middle to get to the other side. No way around that."

"Well, perhaps if we _did _go around the perimeter of room, instead of through the center, we might bypass the trigger point for the trap."

"I doubt it'd be that simple," said Warren. "But I'd rather try that approach under the slight chance that it actually works."

Keeping against one wall, Kendra, Seth and Warren made their way around the room. Once they made it halfway across, Kendra looked at her surroundings. They appeared to be normal, as did Seth and Warren.

"Guys!" shouted a familiar voice from the entrance to the room. The trio stopped and turned around, and were startled to see Bracken running up to them from the bottom of the staircase.

"Bracken?" asked Seth. "How'd you get in here?"

"We pooled all our magic together to breach the barrier keeping us out. I was the only one who made it through, but the others are still back there waiting. I figured you might need my help."

"Bracken," said Kendra, giving him a hug. "I was so scared. I almost died in that previous room."

Bracken started to laugh. Still holding onto Kendra, his body expanded in size.

"Bracken," said Kendra nervously. "What are you doing?"

Without hesitation, Warren thrusted his sword into Bracken's leg, which had now grown higher than Warren's entire body without stopping.

"What's going on?" asked Seth, as Bracken body continued to grow, until it had finally transmogrified itself into Navarog.

"Navarog?" asked Kendra faintly, who was now being grasped within the dragon's massive claws How could this have happened? How could her beloved boyfriend and unicorn prince have been Bracken?

"Yes, Kendra," said Navarog, "I'm also Bracken."

"No!" screamed Kendra, as tears started to trickle down her face. Seth and Warren were both dumbstruck, staring at the demonic dragon that stood before them.

"But I am. Hespera managed to extract my soul from the knapsack, so I possessed Bracken like I did with Seth. With his magic, I could easily transform without needing the Drakesoul."

"Kendra," said Warren. "He's lying. Don't fall for it."

Kendra wanted to believe Warren. But this felt so true and authentic. She had just witnessed Bracken transforming into Navarog, not unlike the times she had seen Gavin and Seth undergo the same transformation.

"No!" screamed Kendra.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Seth. "You're under possession of the vault! This isn't real!"

"Silence!" blared Navarog, as he unleashed a wall of molten gold-like fire towards Warren and Seth, who dashed for their lives to outmanuever it. They sprinted around Navarog and made it to the exit on the other side of the room.

"We made it," said Seth, as he and Warren stood at the top of the stairway, peering back into the room.

"But Kendra didn't!" exclaimed Warren, patting his scorched shirt against the wall. He had received some mild burn marks on his backside from the fire.

"Go on," said Navarog. "Leave Kendra alone with me. She _loves_ me."

"No!" sobbed Kendra, unable to wipe away her tears as Navarog was holding her arms against her body.

"We can't just leave her!" said Seth.

"But how do we stop Navarog?" asked Warren.

"We've gotta convince her that this is all in her mind. It worked for you."

"Yeah, because you found a loophole."

"So, how do we prove to her that this whole thing's phony?"

Warren took a moment to think. "Fairyprime! Bracken was with us when Kendra last went Fairyprime. It never would have worked with a demon like Navarog."

Seth dashed back into the room where Navarog was still holding Kendra. "Kendra! We figured it out! This can't be real! You went Fairyprime with..."

"Silence!" blared Navarog, blasting more golden fire down towards Seth, who barely managed to leap away from its path. The dragon then clasped his claws over Kendra's head, muffling her ears from Seth's voice.

Wrapped within Navarog's claws, Kendra could not hear or see anything. She had to concentrate, but an overwhelming force, combined with the power of Navarog made it difficult.

"Die!" roared Navarog, unleashing more fire in Seth's direction, as Seth barrelled back into the stairwell at the end of the room. Seth and Warren bolted down the stairs partway, the path back up to Navarog now blocked with a constant stream of fire.

"We can't go back!" gasped Warren.

"She trapped!" blared Seth.

Kendra didn't know what had happened to Seth and Warren. Instead, she was trying to focus on what Seth said. Something to do with Bracken and going Fairyprime. She forced her mind to put aside all distarctions and concentrate. This couldn't be the real Bracken, but whoever it was, she couldn't go Fairyprime to stop him. She was alone. No support Seth, Bright, Clover, Warren, Raxtus, Geminus or Bracken...

Then it hit Kendra. Bracken couldn't have helped her become Fairyprime if he had been possessed by a demon!

Seth and Warren looked up and saw that the fire had stopped. They were now too cautious to venture back and see what had happened.

No longer in Navarog's grasp, Kendra opened her eyes. Navarog was gone. Aside from her, the room was now empty.

"Seth?" asked Kendra. "Warren?"

"Kendra?" exclaimed Seth, as he and Warren ventured back up the stairs and discovered Kendra by herself.

"He's gone," said Kendra, giving Seth a hug. "I figured out what Seth was talking about, and it made Navarog disappear. I had no idea how powerful that spell was."

"It felt so real," said Warren, rubbing where he had been singed by the fire. "Too bad it leaves a mark. I should be okay once we get out of this."

"With my immunity to magical fear, I'll be ready on my turn," said Seth

"I just hope there aren't any more _turns_ left," said Kendra.

"Agreed," added Warren. "Preparing for these tricks didn't do us any good."

The group continued down the next flight of stairs, until they found themselves standing before a room that was completely pitch black, even to Kendra's eyes. The only sources of light they could see were from the entrance and exit, which barely extended into the room.

"It's too dark," said Seth. "Kendra, what do you see?"

"Nothing! It's like my ability to see in the dark isn't working."

"Little Dragon," said Warren, "can you use your fire to light the way?"

Kendra and Seth watched as Little Dragon unleashed a blast of fire into the room, but it seemingly vanished the moment it touched the veil of darkness.

"Stop," said Warren, prompting Little Dragon to cease his flaming. "It's not working for some reason."

"Then how do we get through this room?" asked Seth.

"We'll just have to rely on our other senses. We'll all hold hands. Kendra, hold your sword in one hand and hold Seth's hand with the other.

Kendra held her sword in her right hand, then grabbed Seth's right hand with her left one. Meanwhile, Warren grabbed Seth's left hand with his right and held onto his sword with his left.

"We're just going to have to pretend that we're blind," said Warren, leading the way into the room.

"But what if there's a danger we can't sense?" asked Kendra, feeling the floor ahead of her with her sword.

"The path ends over on my side," said Warren after a few seconds. "Kendra, feel for solid ground around you."

"Is this like a maze?" asked Seth.

"Presumably," said Warren. "Think of it of as a diffrent take of that room with the invisible floor. The floor here might not be invisible, but we still can't see where we're going."

Working together, Kendra and Warren navigated their way around the room, bringing Seth along for the trek. Unlike the other room, the path felt more like a maze, rather than a straight line with a gap in the center. Thankfully, they did not appear to be experiencing any gaps; the room was frightening enough as it was.

After twisting and turning their way around the room for several minutes and coming across several dead ends, the group finally made it to the other exit on the other side. Once they stepped through into the next stairway, Kendra, Seth and Warren could now see each other, No longer worrying about where they all were, they released their hands from one another.

"Man, if we do manage to retrieve the Skullifier," said Seth, "I am _not_ looking forward to backtracking through that dark room."

"Now that we've been through it," said Warren, "at least we know it can be done. It's too bad we couldn't leave some sort of trail like Hansel and Gretel."

"How much further does this place go on for?" asked Kendra, as they descended down this next flight of stairs.

"I bet that given the nature of this vault, there's one more room remaining that will sense our fears," said Warren.

"And I've got a sinking feeling that my turn's next," said Seth. "I just hope that my immunity to magical fear might serve as a free pass and prevent the trap from actually activating."

"Well, maybe Seth's immunity to magical fear will just bring up a normal phobia," said Kendra. "What are you afraid of? Bees? Snakes?"

"Don't give him ideas," said Warren.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Kendra, Seth and Warren cautiously entered the next room. It too resembled the rooms that had become the knapsack as well as the one with Navarog.

"Here goes nothing," said Seth, as they proceeded to walk across the room. He tried to picture peaceful thoughts in his mind. Rainbows, fairies, sunshine, puppies, kittens, bunny rabbits, candy and Christmas, just to name a few.

"Seth," said Kendra. "Do you like fairies?"

"Yeah, of course,"

"That's kind of surprising," said Warren.

"Why're you surprised?"

"Because you're a shadow charmer," noted Kendra, no longer in control of her own actions.

Seth could feel that something was amiss. "Okay, you've made your point. Let's go!"

Seth attempted to run away, but Warren grabbed him by his wrist.

"Where are you going?" asked Warren, displaying a devilish grin on his face. What really worried Seth was the fact that Warren was still holding his sword with his other hand.

Kendra then grabbed Seth by his other wrist. Working with Warren, the two of them pushed Seth onto his back. The impact with the floor had scraped his wrists.

"Let's do it," said Kendra, sneering at Warren. Seth watch as Warren transformed into a ball of green light.

"No!" gasped Seth, jumping back onto his feet. He darted towards the exit, only for Kendra, now in her fairyprime form, to magically appear in front of it. Seth stopped dead in his tracks.

"You don't belong with us," said Kendra. "We stand for light and all that is good in the world! Darkness is our enemy."

"Kendra, no!" exclaimed Seth. "You can't do this! It's a trick! You could never go fairyprime with just Wa..."

Before Seth could finish his sentence, Kendra blasted a rainbow from her hands directly at him. The sensation from the muliticolored beam of light felt almost as though it was burning away at his body.

"Stop!" cried Seth. "Please!"

"You belong in the netherworld, dark one," said Kendra.

The pain caused from the rainbow was intense. Seth could only feel his stamina getting lower and lower. Barely able to move, Seth held up his arms in an attempt to shield himself. He had to do something, but what?

Without thinking, Seth used the only thing that came to his mind; Darkness. He envisioned the whole room going dark around him, eclipsing into total darkness. As the darkness touched Kendra, the rainbow stopped.

Kendra collapsed as the darkness drowned her body. She could feel as she reverted from her fairyprime form and Warren appeared next to her, also appearing to be faint.

"Seth moaned Warren. "Seth!"

Unable to detect what was actually going on, Seth continued to pour on his control over darkness.

"STOP!" blared Warren.

Trusting his gut instinct, Seth put his darkness to a halt. He looked over at Warren and Kendra, who were both lying on their fronts, barely moving.

"Seth," said Warren faintly. "What did you do?"

"Guys, I'm sorry," said Seth, grabbing Warren by his hand and helping him to his feet.

"What about Kendra?" asked Warren, as he pulled Kendra up off of the ground. She appeared to be completely unconscious.

"Is she going to be all right?"

"What did you do to her?"

"I had no idea," said Seth. "That my darkness was so powerful. That it would even _work_."

"She's still alive," said Warren, laying Kendra down onto her back. "How'd you use your power, Seth?"

"I don't know. I just tried it on a whim and it worked. I guess since you two were able to become fairyprime, whatever's preventing magic from working in here had to allow it in order for that to work. Likewise, I was able to retaliate."

"Like it would be that easy to take out Kendra when she's fairyprime," said Warren. "Mind you, it was just herself and I."

"What about Kendra?"

"If our powers worked in here, maybe they're still functional. Let me try something." Warren then bent down and kissed Kendra directly on the lips.

Feeling refreshed, Kendra opened her eyes. "What happened?" she asked.

Seth told her, making sure to go into mushy detail about how Warren had revived her with a kiss.

Warren grinned. "Uh, let's just be thankful it actually worked. I mean, I'm part fairy, Kendra's fairykind. So why not? Think of it like Sleeping Beauty."

"You're already engaged," said Seth, smiling.

"Never mind that," said Kendra, standing up on her own feet. "Let's just get to the next room already."

Kendra, Seth and Warren made their way through to the exit and ventured down the next flight of stairs. Once they reached the bottom, they found themselves in yet another cavernous room. However, this one was different. It had a pedestal in the very center and there appear to be no exit on the other side from what they could tell.

"I think... said Warren. "That we've reached the final room."

"Great," said Seth. "What's it going to be now?"

"A combination of all our fears combined?" asked Kendra.

"So we'd be up against a fairy-esque Navarog inside of the knapsack?" suggested Warren.

"A fairy-like Navarog?" asked Seth. "That _would_ be scary."

They walked through the apparently empty room until they had reached the pedestal.

"Now what?" asked Kendra.

"You'd think the artifact would just be sitting here, waiting for us," said Seth. "Or at least, the guardian of the vault would be waiting for us."

"Maybe there is no guard," said Warren. "Like at Vertigo Volcano. Of course then, the Drakesoul was just sitting there for the taking."

"I've got an idea," said Kendra. "Maybe Little Dragon can trigger something."

"It's worth a shot," said Seth, lifting Little Dragon off of his shoulders. "I'm guessing that I should put it on the pedestal."

"You've got my vote," stated Warren.

"Okay," said Seth, setting Little Dragon down on the pedestal before him. Once Little Dragon made contact with the pedestal, the pedestal emitted a white glow and sunk down into the floor.

"I wonder what that did," said Kendra.

Suddenly, a massive, red figure appeared before Kendra, Seth and Warren, its body snaking around the room. Xiantu had now magically appeared before them, looking just as confused as the three of them were.

"Where am I?" asked Xiantu, turning her head and peering down at the knights. Only Kendra could hear what the dragon was saying; Seth and Warren just heard dragon roaring.

"Um, what exactly is going on?" asked Seth

"I think," said Warren, "that we've just summoned the guardian of Eerie Mountain."


	22. Responsibility

**Chapter 22: Responsibility**

An unintentional staring contest was now underway. On one side, there was Seth, Kendra and Warren. Facing them on the opposition was Xiantu.

"What happened?" asked Xiantu, breaking the silence. "How did I get here?" In English, Kendra relayed whatever the dragon was saying back to Seth and Warren.

Seth took in a deep breath. "You see, we were just making our way through Eerie Mountain, when we came across this particular cavern. We placed Little Dragon down on a pedestal, just on the slight chance it might've actually accomplished something. We never would've imagined what it would bring you here."

"So this is the inside of Eerie Mountain?" asked Xiantu. "Thank you so much. For RUINING EVERYTHING!"

"W-w-w-what do you mean?" asked Kendra, gazing at the smoke and glowing green cinders that were fuming out of Xiantu's nostrils.

"You've theorized that I am the guardian of Eerie Mountain. And from what I'm understanding, I probably am."

"You mean you don't actually know if you're the guardian?" asked Warren.

"I was brought to Malania Acres as a hatchling. Ever since then, I've been instructed to never under any circumstance grant anybody access to Eerie Mountain. It all makes sense now. My first caretaker mentioned that the vault had built shortly before I arrived. That was over a thousand years ago."

"So, you've been living on this preserve as an ally to the many generations of caretakers of Malania Acres, when you're really the guardian of the vault?" asked Kendra.

"I must be! When I arrived here as a hatchling, they didn't have the heart to banish me into this vault for my entire life. They let me grow up on the preserve. Make friends. Take care of others. Help the caretakers. I never realized that the only reason I had even come here was to protect some lousy trinket I don't even care about."

"Look, what's the big deal?" asked Seth. "If you don't even care about the artifact, why not just let us have it, wherever it is?"

"What difference does that make? Even if I could give it to you, I'm too large to escape from this room. Now that I've been summoned, I can't ever leave from here!"

Kendra looked at the stairway leading back up, then switched her gaze over to Xiantu. The Chinese dragon was immense, roughly the length of a subway train. No way she could ever get through the vault and back outside.

"Look," said Warren, "I'm sure we can reach some agreement. If the three of us could just get the artifact and get out of here, we'd happily come back with a way to reduce your size."

"I have no idea where the artifact is," said Xiantu. "And if finding the artifact requires for you to defeat me, you can forget it!"

Xiantu slithered her body around the room, blocking off the stairway. She then aimed her head towards the group, opened her mouth, and unleashed a bolt of lightning towards Kendra, Seth and Warren, who narrowly avoided getting electrocuted.

"Don't hurt us!" exclaimed Warren. "We just wanted the artifact! We have no agenda against you!"

"You didn't think of the consequences!" blared Xiantu. "You thought you could just walk in and out with the artifact. But vaults have guardians. Going in here, did you care about what could happen to the guardian?"

"We didn't know it'd be you!" gasped Seth.

"Well guess what! Now I'm trapped down here! I hope you're happy! If I can't leave, neither shall any of you!"

"But, that's not fair!" cried Kendra.

"_That's_ not fair? You want to know what _not fair_ is? Devoting your life to the bettering and protection of a preserve for over one-thousand years, receiving no compensation beyond praise and a place to live. And then one day, some strange people show up, sweet talk their way into gaining access to the one place I was told to never let anybody near, and have them bring me to where I am now, where I can never get out!"

"Look, it was a misunderstanding!"

"So? What would you have done if you had prior knowledge to the fact that I was the guardian of Eerie Mountain? Would you have gone through all that trouble just to kill an innocent dragon that looks after all the creatures on this preserve? The whole reason that creatures like myself are even at preserves is to keep them safe from developing humans. Just you like the three of you."

"We don't mean to harm the innocent," said Warren. "We live on another preserve, and we understand how important Malania Acres is to you! Our preserve is in a lot of trouble of its own, and we need the artifact you're protecting to save it?"

"So you want to kill me, just to _maybe_ have a chance at saving some other preserve I've never even heard of?" retorted Xiantu, whose face now looked furious.

"Take it easy, Xiantu. Deng Yu wouldn't like this."

"Like all the previous caretakers, Deng Yu was never compelled to enter Eerie Mountain. And up until yesterday, I had the utmost respect for him. Now that I've seen the truth, I could care less about him or any other human. I'm through with you!"

Xiantu unleashed a wall of green fire at the group, prompting them to flee to the far side of the room just to avoid getting roasted.

"I hate to say it," said Warren, "but we're going to have to slay that dragon. She's asking for it."

Xiantu unleashed a roar that reverberated throughout the entire cavern. Although her body was immense and almost serpentine, she could not fit around the entirety of the room. She continued to blast her green fire across the room and came fairly close to scorching the three knights. Had they not been properly trained in evading danger, the fire would've easily burnt them all to a crisp by this point.

"Kendra," said Warren, clenching his sword firmly while sweat drops beaded down his face, "I'll take her head, you get her lower body."

"But, it's wrong!" quipped Kendra, leaping out of the way of a thick beam of vibrant purple energy that Xiantu had shot from her mouth. Although the beam missed its target, it did managed to blast a large indentation into the wall.

"See that?" cried Seth. "That's _us_ if we don't fight back! If you don't want to fight, at least give me your sword!"

Kendra dropped her sword and ran towards the center of the room, waving her arms in the air.

"Kendra, no!" yelled Warren.

"Xiantu!" cried Kendra, as the dragon readied her next attack.

"Kendra, get back!" shrieked Warren, running after his cousin.

"Xiantu," said Kendra, coming closer to the dragon. "You're a good dragon. I don't want to fight you. Please don't attack..."

It was too late. Xiantu had unleashed another blast of purple energy in Kendra's direction. The force of the blast didn't quite hit Kendra, but it did toss her body back several yards and inflicted a tremendous amount of pain upon her. An impact crater remained in the floor where the beam had made direct contact.

"No!" screamed Seth, as he and Warren ran over towards where Kendra had fallen.

Much of Kendra's body was stained with her own blood. The pain she was experiencing was more than overwhelming, and she could barely move or breathe. Several of her bones had to have been broken. All she could do now was lay on her back and suffer. Seth was in distress over what he was seeing.

Seth and Warren looked up at Xiantu, and saw that the dragon looked resentful over what she had done.

"Drop your weapon," said Warren. Without thinking, Seth complied, dropping his sword at the same time as Warren.

"What have I done?" asked Xiantu, whose roaring was inaudible to Seth and Warren. Kendra, however, was still able to hear her.

"She's still alive," said Warren, feeling Kendra's body.

Xiantu roared and exhaled a pink mist into the air. As it came into contact with Kendra, her pains went away, and she could feel her wounds healing up.

"She's healing us," said Warren, feeling his body. "My burns are gone!"

"I can't get up," said Kendra. Warren responded by pulling Kendra to her feet, but she lost balance in her right leg and toppled over. "Ow, my leg!"

"I apologize," said Xiantu, "but my power only heals external wounds."

"Why did you spare me?" asked Kendra. Although it had been healed, her left arm was also fractured.

"Right as I prepared to assault you, I sensed fairy energy radiating from you when you were apologizing."

"Are you serious?" asked Warren.

"I am. When you spend your life seeing to the well-being of fairies, you develop certain skills and senses that are linked to them, like my healing breath."

"So, you're not going to hurt us?" asked Seth.

"I didn't want to hurt you. But I am still infuriated."

"You don't understand," said Kendra. "We're sorry. But what will killing us accomplish? Nothing. We can't even leave without the artifact. If we tried, the vault would spring fatal traps upon us."

Xiantu took in a deep breath. "I've heard rumors about this vault, and I have reason to believe you are correct. But why couldn't they have told me anything about my duty as the guardian? Why not just let me reside on the preserve and forget about a guardian? No creature should be subjected to such a fate."

Xiantu crawled around to the far side of the room, moving her body away from the stairway leading upwards. "Leave this place."

"But we can't," said Seth. "The traps."

"At least you humans have a chance of leaving this place."

"Not without the artifact," said Kendra.

"I... understand," said Xiantu fearfully. "Farewell, heroes."

Xiantu turned to face her upper body, then unleashed a blast of purple energy at it. The force of the blast severed her into two halves, causing blood to come gushing out of both ends.

"No!" screamed Kendra in horror.

"It is... the only way..." gasped Xiantu faintly.

"We can't... save her," said Warren wearily.

Seconds later, Xiantu's entire body vanished in a massive cloud of red smoke. All that remained of her was the pool of blood that had poured out of her body.

"What's going on?" asked Seth, pointing towards the center of the room, where the pedestal upon which he had first placed Little Dragon rose back out of the ground. A bright light flashed atop the pedestal, leaving behind a silvery object when in faded.

"Is that, the artifact?" asked Seth.

"Help me with your sister, please," said Warren.

Seth bent down and assisted Warren in lifting up Kendra. Standing on one foot, with her arms around Seth and Warren, Kendra was able to hop over to the pedestal with them.

Sitting atop the pedestal was what appeared to be a human skull, only it appeared to be made out of shimmering silver rather than bones. Within each its eye sockets were what appeared to be voids of darkness.

"Cool," said Seth, grabbing the Skullifier. Its metal structure felt cold against the palms of his hands.

"That came at a high price," said Warren. "Xiantu, an innocent creature with good intentions, had to sacrifice herself just to provide this artifact to us. Don't forget that."

"I guess she figured that once she realized she could never leave, she would rather let us have the artifact than attempt to hoard it," said Kendra.

"Kendra, you need medical attention right away," said Warren. "But my power still doesn't work in this place. We need to get out of here."

"Maybe Little Dragon can help," said Seth, pulling the statuette off of his shoulders. However, Seth now realized that Little Dragon had become inanimate again.

"I can't make a splint out of anything," said Warren. He then lifted Kendra's entire body up over his shoulders. "I'll just have to make due like this."

Seth led the way back up the stairs, while Warren and Kendra followed close behind. Seth tested all the steps with his sword, but none of them felt false. They passed through the room in which Kendra had gone fairyprime, with nothing out of the ordinary happening.

Next they came across the room which had been pitch black; to everyone's relief, it was now no darker than any other room, the group could see where they were going as they easily made their way back to the other side.

They continued up and through the room where Navarog had made an appearance, and further up to the room which had contained the tyrantula. For this room, Warren put Kendra down. He and Seth then stood in front of and behind Kendra, holding onto her as they guided her across the tightrope. With the boys' help Kendra managed to make it all the way to the other side.

From there, the group continued going backwards, passing through the room that had transformed itself into the knapsack. The next room, which had been the first one they passed through on the way in, was the one with the invisible platform, only now it was actually visible. Once they reached the center of the platform, they were faced with the small gap that separated both sides.

"I can't jump that like this," said Kendra.

"I've got an idea," said Warren. "Seth, go across first."

Seth leapt across.

"Now Kendra, I want you to fall into Seth's arms. I've got your back, so don't worry."

Kendra leaned forward, allowing herself to fall into Seth's outstretched arms. She managed to keep her balance using her left foot. Warren quickly bolted across and assisted Seth in pulling her up to their side.

"Made it," said Seth. "Now let's get out of here!"

They continued up through the final stairway, where Raxtus was laying down, apparently half awake. He turned to face the knights just as they came into the entryway.

"Raxtus!" gasped Kendra, as Warren placed her down next to the fairy dragon.

"We did it," said Seth, holding up the Skullifier.

"All right," said Raxtus with enthusiasm in his voice.

"It wasn't that spectacular," said Warren. "Where're the others?"

"Back at the house," said Raxtus. "What's wrong?"

"Get us back first," said Warren. "We'll tell you everything then."

Stepping out into the entrance of vault, Warren and Seth helped Kendra onto Raxtus' back, then hopped on themselves. Raxtus then took off and flew back across the preserve to the pagoda where Deng Yu lived. Once they arrived, they asked for everyone to gather around them outside.

"So, you folks found the artifact?" asked Deng Yu, accepting Little Dragon back from Seth.

"We did," said Seth. "But it came at a price."

"Kendra broke some of her bones," said Warren. "Could someone please heal her?"

"Allow me," said Bracken, as he shifted into his unicorn form. He then bent his head down and placed his horn onto Kendra's arm. Kendra could feel energy surging out of Bracken's horn and through her entire body, relieving the pain that her injured bones were experiencing. A few seconds later, Bracken backed away from Kendra.

"I feel... fine," said Kendra, as she stood up. "I'm all better. Thank you, Bracken!"

Bracken transformed back into a human, just in time to receive a gratuitous hug from Kendra. "Thank you,"

Kendra then backed away, but along with Seth and Warren, she too looked upset.

"What's the matter?" asked Clover. "Kendra got injured, yes, but you're all better now."

"That's not what this is about," said Warren reluctantly.

"Well, mind telling us about what happened in there?" asked Deng Yu.

Kendra, Seth and Warren relayed their journey through Eerie Mountain, speaking of the various rooms they had to traverse, particularly the three that had brought each of their fears to life.

"Kendra," said Bracken, placing his arm around her shoulder, "why would you think of me like that?"

"It's not her fault," said Warren. "The rooms worked against us. Seeing Gavin turn into Navarog terrified her, and she was afraid that you might do the same. I mean, that's clearly isn't the case, but the room was messing with her."

After they explained about the rest of the rooms, they got to the final one, where they spoke about how Xiantu appeared before them. As they spoke of what went on, Deng Yu bit down on his lips, while also making sure to translate everything that was being spoken to Jinghua.

"She attacked you?" asked Deng Yu.

"She was in distress," said Seth. "How come you didn't tell us she was the guardian of the vault?"

"I, we didn't know!"

"She ultimately chose to sacrifice herself," said Kendra. "She's... gone."

Deng Yu hesitantly muttered the Mandarin translation to Jinghua. Within seconds they were tearing up in their eyes.

"We didn't mean for this to happen," said Warren. "We're very sorry."

Deng Yu bent his head down and shook it. "Xiantu was an amazing creature. The most powerful one on this preserve. She devoted her life to helping others."

"Is there anything we can do to make this up to you?" asked Bright.

"Maybe we can find another dragon to leave here?" asked Seth in a whisper.

"But, everything that happens in this time, will have already happened in our present," said Kendra.

"Besides," added Raxtus, "dragons aren't like dogs. You don't just run out to some pet shop and take one home. Most dragons live in actual dragon sanctuaries, with a few exceptions. Xiantu was only brought to this preserve for the sole purpose of being the vault guardian. It was her caretaker's choice to let her live on the actual preserve instead."

"Look, we're deeply sorry for all of this," said Kendra. "I'm sure that the Knights of the Dawn will look after you."

"I don't mean to offend you or anything, but how come you're not mad at us?"

"We are very mature, sensible folk," said Deng Yu. "I have reason to believe that Xiantu would give up her life if it meant saving others. She was a very loving dragon. Dragons like her are very rare."

Seth looked over at Raxtus and Geminus and caught them winking at one another.

"I understand that you folks are all very busy," said Deng Yu. "Jinghua and I wish to mourn Xiantu right now. Perhaps now, it would be best if you all left us?"

Everyone agreed unanimously. After waving their goodbyes and bidding their farewells, the Knights of the Dawn mounted Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus, and took off into the air, flying back the way they initially came from. Although they were successful in their mission, obtaining the Skullifier came at a high price.


	23. Skullifier

**Chapter 23: Skullifier**

As the group flew across the sky, not a single one of them displayed a smile. The thought of what had happened with Xiantu had them too perturbed to think of what they had even come to accomplish.

"Was it really worth it?" asked Seth. "Couldn't we have just found another way to return to the present instead of going through all this trouble to get the Skullifier?"

"We didn't know that this was going to happen," said Warren.

"But it must've," said Kendra. "I mean, if Xiantu died in 1689 all along, then it was precisely because we travelled back in time and triggered that to happen."

"I'd never even heard about Xiantu until we met her. Mind you, I never knew much about Malania Acres until we got there."

"If we do get back to our time," said Clover, "I wonder what will have changed."

"Hopefully nothing. Time travel is potentially very dangerous if you're not super careful. For the sake of the time stream, everything we've experienced is what happened all along to begin with."

"In other words, Xiantu was _destined_ to die," said Kendra hesitantly.

"Why did it have to be like this?" asked Seth, clenching his hand into a fist. "Why did they have to make so many precautions just to prevent people from even obtaining these artifacts?"

"These artifacts were made to keep the force behind Zzyzx in order," said Bracken. "Regardless of whatever choose do to with them, they still need to exist for the sake of balance. While many people would use them with good intentions in mind, there are also those with nefarious ideals. Those who should never be allowed to lay their hands upon such powerful tools. If there were no bad people out there, such protection would not be necessary."

"I understand the whole protection reasoning," said Kendra. "But think about Xiantu? She was brought to Malania Acres as a baby, just so that she could serve as the guardian of the vault. It's only because her first caretaker opted to keep her on the preserve to live a plentiful life that she wasn't subjected to the vault for a thousand years."

"She would've live a much different life had that been the case," said Bright. "At least be grateful that she had something better."

"And she was left with no choice but to end that life. Just so that we could get some stupid artifact."

"Kendra," said Warren. "I understand how you feel. You're upset that such a sympathetic, sentient creature was the guardian of the vault."

"But why?"

"It wasn't intentional. Most dragons are thought of as devastating beasts. They didn't think that assigning one to serve as a vault guardian was so horrendous because they didn't know that she would instead grow up and thrive on that preserve. But don't feel bad. From what I understand, Xiantu lived a long, prosperous life."

"She was special," said Kendra. "I mean, aside from being overprotective over Eerie Mountain, she actually seemed pretty friendly. The fairies at Malania Acres seemed to be on good terms with her. And not only that, but she had the ability to heal with her breath, kinda like you, Raxtus."

"Really?" asked Raxtus. "I thought only a fairy dragon would have _that_ sort of power."

"Xiantu probably had some sort of connection to the fairies," said Geminus. "Some of their power may have even found its way into her."

"You're saying she could've been a fairy dragon as well?" asked Seth.

"Sort of," said Raxtus. "But not to the extent that I am."

"True," said Warren. "Xiantu was a lot larger and had some dangerous powers in addition to her healing ability."

"So, maybe she was the dragon equivalent of being fairystruck?" asked Kendra. "While a dragon like Raxtus might be more akin to fairykind?"

"Maybe," said Raxtus. "I 'm not really sure about how that would work."

"I just feel awful about the whole thing," said Kendra. "I'd rather have slayed a vicious dragon than have to have gone through... _that_."

The ride back towards Pennsylvania took hours and hours. The group stopped once to eat dinner, otherwise they pushed onward to return back to Lady Evangeline's home. Since they had reached their destination at Malania Acres, the compass that they had been using to find their way there was now leading them back to Pennsylvania.

It was the dead of night by the time that Kendra noticed that the compass needle was no longer pointing forward. Using deductive reasoning, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all soared down towards the township beneath the clouds, making an effort to land in the small park that they had used during their previous visit.

Just as the unicorn and the two dragons respectively set their hooves and feet on the ground, all of their passengers hopped off. Bracken returned to his human form, while Raxtus and Geminus shrunk themselves down. Kendra and Seth stretched their stiff bodies, grateful to be walking on their own feet again. Alas, they were all fairly tired.

"What time is it?" asked Seth, who was ready to fall asleep.

"Time for bed," said Warren, letting out a heavy yawn.

The group made their way back to Lady Evangeline's front door. Looking through the windows, there appeared to be no light coming from inside the house.

"It's too late to badger her now," moaned Warren.

Before anyone could respond, the front door opened up from the inside. Standing before the group was Gilvenoff.

"I received word that you were successful," said Gilvenoff.

"Technically, we got what we came for," said Seth, trying not to get into detail over Xiantu.

"Come inside. You can all rest up and we'll discuss the situation more in the morning."

The group walked into the house and made their way into the den, where many beds had been set up.

"Lady Evangeline is sleeping. So I was on night watch waiting for you folks. Please, rest yourselves."

In no position or mood to argue, everyone crawled into one of the beds. Kendra and Seth both closed their eyes and within minutes, had fallen fast asleep.

The next morning everybody woke up feeling refreshed and vigorous. After making their way out of bed, the group migrated to the dining room, where Lady Evangeline had already set up places for everybody at the table.

"Good morning," said Lady Evangeline with a smile, as Kendra and Seth sat down.

"Morning," said Seth, as Lady Evangeline placed a bowl of porridge in front of Seth. Seth added some milk from a creamer and some sugar to the porridge, then mixed it together with his spoon.

"I understand that you were successful in obtaining the Skullifier from Malania Acres. Is that correct?"

"This is it," said Warren, holding up the aforementioned artifact.

"We... that is Xiantu, the guardian, sacrificed herself to allow us to have it," said Kendra.

"I heard," said Gilvenoff. "Try not to feel so remorseful over it. It's not your fault. Xiantu was a guardian first and a resident of Malania Acres second."

"It's not fair," noted Seth.

"She was supposed to spend her life guarding the Skullifier," said Gilvenoff. "Mind you, I wasn't in charge of selecting the guardian, nor did I have any say over what the caretaker chose to do with her. None of the decisions related to Eerie Mountain were up to me."

"Eat up, everybody," said Lady Evangeline. "It may not undo what has happened so far, but that's no reason to continue on an empty stomach."

The breakfast that Lady Evangeline had prepared was quite tasty, especially once Kendra and Seth had added freshly-picked blueberries to their food. Although they were still saddened by the loss of Xiantu, they were starting to feel better about their current situation.

"So," said Seth, "what can you tell us about this Skullifier?"

"That depends," said Gilvenoff. "Have you managed to use it yet?"

"We never actually tried," replied Warren. "We got the impression that it could be rather dangerous if one isn't careful with it."

"The Skullifier simply disables magic. If you simply take the time to _think _about what you use it on, it should work fairly well. Either way, it's not bad if you weren't yet ready to experiment with it. But I think that a demonstration is in order. Did you at least manage to restore power to it?"

"Well, no," responded Kendra. "I never actually touched the Skullifier, since I was worried that if I had, it's power might be difficult to control."

"It's all right," said Gilvenoff. "Go ahead. Touch it."

Warren placed the Skullifier down on the table in front of Kendra. The face of the artifact staring directly at her, Kendra looked down at it. Its onyx eyes possessed an ageless gleam in them. Cautiously, Kendra placed her hand directly onto the scalp of the Skullifier. Once she made contact with it, Kendra could feel energy surging down her arm, through her hand and into the Skullifier. After only a second, a round onyx suddenly materialized inside each of the Skullifier's eye sockets.

"What happened?" asked Bright, as Kendra nervously removed her hand from the Skullifier.

"The Skullifier is now functional again," said Gilvenoff. "But first, I feel that a demonstration is in order."

Gilvenoff waved his hand in the air, causing the Skullifier to levitate off of the table and over to where he was sitting, and accepted it in his hands.

"So, this thing cancels out magic?" asked Bracken.

"Any magic with a lingering effect. Now, I ask that everyone stand up and step away from the table."

Everyone then got up from their seats and back away to one end of the table, where Gilvenoff was standing.

"Would somebody care to animate that bowl of fruit on the table? I have the power to do so myself, but to prove a point, I want someone else to get things going."

"Um, okay," said Bright, directing a wave of sparkles over towards a bowl of fruit that was in the center of the table. The bowl and the various fruits inside of it absorbed the sparkles. A moment later, the various apples, oranges, pears and grape bunches that were in the bowl jumped out completely on their own. The assorted pieces of fruit, along with the bowl they had been in, proceeded to bounce around the table as though they had life of their own.

Seth chuckled. "If I had this power, I'd always play with my food."

"Go ahead," said Gilvenoff, "bring some more things to life."

Clover used her magic on the various dishes and utensils that were laying around the table, prompting them to spring to life. Plates and bowls began rolling around like wheels, while knives and spoons began bouncing around as though they were self-propelled pogo sticks. Various utensils began to leap off the table and bounce around the dining room.

"Gilvenoff, is all this actually necessary?" asked Lady Evangeline, as the prongs of a bounding fork came within inches of her face before falling back to the floor.

"I kinda think that's overdoing it, Clover," noted Warren.

"Alright, that's more than enough," said Gilvenoff, as he held up the Skullifier. Facing it forward, he concentrated for a moment. At that point, what could best be described as beams of shadows shot out of the eyes of the artifact like two pairs of spotlights.

The shadows spread throughout the room, causing anything that Bright and Clover had brought to life to suddenly come to a halt. Various things fell to the floor, including utensils and a few dishes, all of which shattered.

"Cool," said Seth.

"But, how?" asked Bright.

"Simple," said Seth. "That's what the Skullifier's supposed to do. Right?"

"Correct," stated Gilvenoff. "But to have accomplished that without the Skullifier would taken precision and concentration. The Skullifier can do just that, but with minimal effort and no upper limit to its power."

"So, rather than a few dishes and such, it could be used to take down things like constructs or golems?" asked Geminus

"Even those the size of mountains," noted Gilvenoff. It does not matter how grand or strong the target is; the Skullifier will de-power its magic. Alas, it has no power over stuff that has undergone magical alteration."

Gilvenoff picked up a stray spoon that was lying on the table. "Would someone be willing to transform this spoon into something different?"

"Sure," said Bright.

Gilvenoff placed the spoon back down on the table. Bright then conjured up her magic once again and released it onto the spoon. The spoon began to implode down to towards it middle section, while its silver surface turned white. Once it was no more than an inch long, the object began extending upwards in a cylindrical formation with a cone-shaped top. After growing one foot high, it stopped, and a small wick appeared at the top.

"Not bad," said Gilvenoff. "You transformed that spoon into a candle."

"Look, if you needed a candle, I have plenty," said Lady Evangeline. "There was no need to ruin my good silverware."

"I needed an object that had specifically been altered by magic. Now watch to see what the Skullifier does to it."

Gilvenoff held the Skullifier outwards, and again unleashed its power onto the candle that stood before him. Nothing had changed.

"It didn't do anything," said Raxtus.

"Exactly. Although the spoon had been altered into a candle, there was nothing at all magical about the actual candle."

"What if you were to use that Skullifier on a magical creature?" asked Bracken. "Like say, one of us?"

"It would lose all the magic within its body. Or so I conjecture. After creating the Skullifier, I had very little time experimenting with it, nor did I wish to to test it on any living subjects. But in theory, I have reason to believe it would do just that. You best be careful with it, that artifact hasn't been properly tested."

"Now, there's the matter of the Chronometer," said Warren.

"Oh, of course," said Gilvenoff. "Please place the Chronometer itself down on the table for me."

Warren picked up the Chronometer that had been on the floor by his seat, then placed it on the table.

"It's best that you learn how to use the Skullifier," said Gilvenoff. "But fortunately, using it is actually quite easy. Warren, I want you to take it from me and aim it at the Chronometer."

"Okay," said Warren, following Gilvenoff's instrustions.

"Now, focus on darkness, and picture what you saw when I was using the Skullifier."

Warrren took in a deep breath, prompting beams of shadows to pour out of the Skullifier's eyes. Warren aimed the Skullifier at the Chronometer, encompassing it in a wave of darkness.

"That's enough," said Gilvenoff, prompting Warren to cease the use of the Skullifier.

"Did that fix the Chronometer?" asked Seth.

Gilvenoff picked up the Chronometer. "Not quite. It did however neutralize all of the magical energy within the Chronometer, though."

"You mean, now it doesn't work at all?"

"Don't worry. The Chronometer isn't broken, it's simply been drained of all its energy; both its initial charge and the negative energy it had been inflicted with. But it should still work. Kendra, would you mind placing your hand on the Chronometer for me?"

"All right," said Kendra, nodding. She then placed her hand on the Chronometer. Once again, she could feel energy flowing through her body and into the artifact. "I think that worked."

Gilvenoff picked up the Chronometer. He examined it thoroughly, moving it around in his hands. "Everything seems to be in order. It's hard to believe that this artifact has the capacity to transport people through time."

"So, it's working again?" exclaimed Seth, sighing with relief.

"Well, although I haven't tested it to see for myself, it does appear to be functional."

"So, we can return to our time, now?" asked Raxtus.

"We could..." said Bracken, "but if we return to the present using the Chronometer, we'll need someone to come with us who will be staying in this time. That's where Gilvenoff will come in. His mission will be to secure the Chronometer in the caverns beneath the Lost Mesa preserve, which is where the artifact will later be discovered."

"Understood," said Gilvenoff. "I'll do what I can to ensure that the Chronometer gets hidden away at Lost Mesa. Granted, I'm not aware of any vault at that preserve, but I'll see what I can do."

"What about the Skullifier?" asked Seth. "Since we can't transport objects through time, how are we going to obtain it in the present?"

"My suggestion is that before we return to the present, we plant it in a particular spot," said Warren. "Then, once we've travelled forward in time, we go and retrieve it. Think of it as a time capsule."

"Hold it!" snapped Kendra. "Exactly _what_ point in time are we travelling forward to? We can't go beyond the point when that artifact disruption spell was cast, or we might end up in the wrong time with a non-functional Chronometer."

"But, we're not sure when exactly the spell was cast," said Seth. "So, lets give ourselves a day or two as leeway. That way we can go about this the way Warren originally intended."

"But that would contradict going back in time in the first place," said Warren. "And it would prevent the Chronometer from coming back to this point in time. We'll have to use the Skullifier to counter our problem now."

"Sounds dangerous," said Bracken, "but it may be our best option."

"If this Skullifier can actually do the job," said Kendra. "Otherwise, we may be be sealing our fate with this whole approach. But I don't see what other choice we have."

"Then it's settled," said Warren. "We'll go plant the Chronometer in a safe spot, and then we'll finally be able to return to our proper time."


	24. Present Tense

**Chapter 24: Present Tense**

Kendra looked around the room, turning her head towards everybody. Their plan seemed to be foolproof. Since they were unable to transport any object with them through time via the Chronometer, the simple alternative would be to hide the Skullifier somewhere, then retrieve it once they reached the future. But, where exactly could they hide the Skullifier?

"We've got a problem," said Kendra. "We need to hide the Skullifier, but it needs to be somewhere where no one else will find it."

"That's going to be tricky," said Warren. "If we hide the Skullifier now, we're going to need some sort of indicator that we can use to locate it in the future."

"Who cares where we hide the Skullifier?" asked Seth. "Once we hide it, we can just travel forward through time at the same spot and reclaim it."

"Too risky," said Lady Evangeline. "We can't just hide it anywhere. Something could happen to it between now and when you arrive in the future."

"Let's just entrust it with someone, or lock it away in another vault?" asked Seth.

"We can't let anyone else know about it," said Warren. "It could change the course of history too much."

"Why not hide it at the site of the new vault that Zoverdom is building?" asked Kendra.

"Um, because it hasn't been built, exactly..." noted Warren.

"No, think about it! We can hide the Skullifier in the Revenant's Grove! No one will know its there, and that revenant will be protecting it. At least until Seth pulls that nail from it."

"Uh, what are you talking about, exactly?" asked Lady Evangeline.

"You don't want to know," said Warren.

"You're saying that you think we could get away with hiding the Skullifier near the site of the vault that's being built for the Sands of Sanctity?" asked Gilvenoff. "Perhaps. I know not what will transpire in the years to come. However, I do believe that your proposition seems sound. We will travel to the sight of the vault that is being constructed and find a hiding spot for the Skullifier. From there, we will travel into the future. I will then return to this time by myself, and see to it that the Chronometer gets secured at Lost Mesa."

"If everybody's ready," said Warren, "I suppose now it's time for us to go," said Warren.

Lady Evangeline stood up, walked over to Warren, and gave him a hug. "Do be careful. This whole experience has been rather unnerving."

"We'll do our best," said Bright.

"It was an honor to meet you," said Warren, releasing himself from Lady Evangeline's arms.

For the next few minutes, everybody else bid farewell to Lady Evangeline. Gilvenoff then walked in from the other room, displaying a confident look on his face.

"Well, I just contacted Zoverdom. He said that it's best it we don't hide the Skullifier within the actual vault itself. However, he had no problem with us hiding it somewhere nearby."

"Well, I guess that'd work," said Clover, as her allies nodded in agreement.

Everyone then left the house and walked through the village to the nearby park. Raxtus and Geminus both transmogrified into their dragon forms, while Bracken became a unicorn. Kendra and Bright mounted Bracken, while Warren and Clover climbed onto Raxtus' back. Likewise, Seth got onto Geminus.

"Gilvenoff," said Kendra, "how are you going to fly?"

"I suppose I could use a lift," said the wizard.

"Wait, aren't all you wizards actually dragons?" asked Seth.

"It's best I don't assume my dragon form," said Gilvenoff. "I would lose a vast amount of power I've gained from my years as a wizard. Also, I may not behave the same way as a dragon as I do a human. I could be quite vicious."

"Okay, okay," said Seth. "Just asking. Climb aboard."

"Good luck," said Lady Evangeline, as Gilvenoff got on Geminus, seating himself behind Seth.

"We'll never forget you!" exclaimed Warren.

Everyone waved goodbye to Lady Evangeline as Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all took off and flew up towards the sky, heading in the direction of the site where the Inverted Tower was being built, and where Fablehaven would ultimately be established.

* * *

Roughly an hour later, Seth was taken by surprise when Gilvenoff tapped his shoulder.

"Ah?" uttered Seth. "What is it?"

"This is our stop," said Gilvenoff. "Right down there."

"You sure about that?" asked Geminus.

"Trust me. I'm the one with the compass."

"All right," said Geminus. "Guys, this is our stop!"

Geminus dove through the layer of clouds beneath her, prompting Raxtus and Bracken to both follow her. The ground beneath them was filled with forests as far as the eye could see.

"A little to the right," said Gilvenoff, leading Geminus to change her direction slightly. "Forward more. Ah, great."

Following Gilvenoff's directions, Geminus soon reached a small clearing, where she resumed an upright position and placed her feet down on the ground, coming to a complete stop.

"Well done," said Gilvenoff, as he and Seth climbed down off of the fairy dragon's back. At that moment, Raxtus and Bracken both landed nearby. "The site of the new vault is very close by. Follow me."

Gilvenoff lead the group over a small hill, to where the entrance to the Inverted Tower stood. Everyone gazed at it in admiration. Although it was just the raised platform that served as the entrance, it looked to be in the same state that it did on the day that Kendra and Warren had ventured inside to go after the Sands of Sanctity.

"Shouldn't there be something out there to protect the vault?" asked Seth.

"Zoverdom has not finished constructing it," replied Gilvenoff. "Nor has the Sands of Sanctity been relocated at this point in time. So there's really no need for such precautions until everything's ready."

Seth walked up onto the entrance platform of the Inverted Tower, while the rest of the group followed him. He climbed his way up the steps and looked down into the open entryway. Having never seen into the vault, Seth marvelled at the cylindrical stairway that led down to the lower floor. "That's cool!"

"Where's Zoverdom?" asked Kendra. "And those golems?"

"Probably all deeper inside, working," replied Gilvenoff.

"Well, we're at the vault," said Bright. "So where do we hide the Skullifier?"

"First thing's first," said Gilvenoff. "I need to transfer the Skullifier's prominence as a key to Zzyzx to the Chronometer. If not, it would create an unspeakable paradox."

"But, if you didn't," stated Seth, "then Zzyzx won't be opened in the future."

"Yeah, but it'd really mess up our past," noted Bracken. "We need to let things fall into place as they already have. Or will, I suppose."

"Please place both the Skullifier and Chronometer down before me," said Gilvenoff.

Warren removed both artifacts from his bag and set them down on the platform in front of Gilvenoff.

"As the creator of the Skullifier, I, and I alone, have the power to revoke the key status of the Skullifier and grant it to another powerful relic."

Gilvenoff waved his hands over the Skullifier and the Chronometer, and began chanting some unintelligible words. White sparkles shimmered down from his fingertips and encased the two artifacts in a glowing field of light. As Gilvenoff continued chanting, what could best be described as a bolt of metallic lightning shot out of the Skullifier and made contact with the Chronometer. The bolt lasted for several seconds, then vanished. Gilvenoff ended his chanting a few seconds later, then ceased the magical shimmer that emitted from his hands altogether.

"There, the transfer of power is now complete," said Gilvenoff, as he bent down and picked up the two artifacts. "The Chronometer is now one of the five keys to Zzyzx."

Warren rubbed his hands together. "All right, then. Now, we just need a place to hide the Skullifier."

"But, where?" asked Clover, looking around at the trees that surrounded them on all sides.

"Best we don't hide it inside the actual vault," said Gilvenoff.

"A landmark of some sort would be nice," said Kendra. "But it can't be too obvious, as it would stand out."

"Why not this platform we're standing on?" asked Seth, looking down at the very platform everyone was standing atop of.

"You mean, hide it _inside_ the platform?" asked Raxtus.

"Why not? It's not like anybody ever thought to look there before. Besides, it'll be easy to find once we go back to our time.

"That sounds crazy enough to work," said Warren. "Let's try it."

Seth ran over to one edge of the platform and leapt down onto the grass. He stood and waited as the others caught up with him.

"So, maybe hide it inside this wall somewhere?" asked Seth, pointing to one of the walls that made up the base of the platform.

"That could work," said Gilvenoff. "We just need to create a hiding spot in which the Skullifier can be stored away in."

"I got it," said Raxtus. He reached down against the wall with his claws, piercing into the grooves between two levels of stones, arranged in a brick-like formation, with his nails. Each stone within the wall was rectangular, approximately the size of a microwave oven. Raxtus then dug his nails deep into the groove. Pulling firmly, he ripped out one of the stones, leaving a gap within the wall.

"Good," said Gilvenoff. "Now, place the Skullifier in that hole."

"All right," said Warren, as he bent down and set the Skullifier inside the hole.

"So, how do we seal it up?" asked Kendra. "The space is the same size as the stone Raxtus removed, so it won't fit if we've got an object lodged in there as well."

"Simple," said Bright. "We reduce the stone.

Bright held out her hands and flailed them. Rainbow sparkles flew out from her palms and engulfed the stone that Raxtus had removed. Everyone watched as the stone shrank inwards, completely horizontally. While its length and height remained the same, the width of the stone had been reduced significantly, so that it was now only a fraction of its original width.

"Good thinking," said Gilvenoff. "Now we just need to set the stone back into place."

"Got it," said Geminus. With ease, she picked up the stone and set it back into the gap it came from, covering up the Skullifier. It appeared to be a fairly snug fit.

Gilvenoff then recited more unintelligible words, and used magic on the stone that Geminus had set. "There," he said upon finishing. The stone is now attached to the rest of the platform again. But I must warn you, that I am unable to place any further safeguards on the stone, for the magic that will be set in place to protect this vault upon its completion will interfere with any magic I use on the stone itself."

"Got it," said Seth, as he placed his hand on the stone that had just been sealed. Pushing against it, the stone appeared to be firmly sealed amongst the rest of the platform. "Now what?"

"Well, it would appear that your work in this time in complete. If you're all ready, we can travel back to your proper time."

"Well, we need to be careful in regards to _when_ exactly we return," said Warren. "Although the Midwinter's Eve happened on a Tuesday, we know that Oblivion would've cast her spell on the Monday morning before that, just after we got away from her."

"So, you're proposing that we travel forward through time to that Monday morning, sometime prior to when the spell would've been put into effect?" asked Bracken. Warren nodded.

"Then do just that," said Gilvenoff.

Warren removed the Chronometer from his bag and set it down on the ground before everybody. He then knelt down and began to adjust the settings.

"All right," said Warren. "I'm pretty sure I've got all the temporal coordinates set properly. Year, month, day and time all seem to be right. We should be good to go. Everybody, make sure you're touching the Chronometer."

Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus all shrunk down to their smaller forms. As Kendra and Seth placed their hands upon the Chronometer, so did everyone else, so that a total of nine different beings were touching it.

"Here we go," said Warren, as he flicked a switch with his hand.

Gilvenoff looked around. "Is this... the future?"

"Nothing happened," stated Kendra.

"What's wrong with that thing?" asked Seth.

"Everyone, let go," said Warren. Once no one else was touching the Chronometer, he picked it up and handed it to Gilvenoff.

"It feels like it should be operational," said Gilvenoff, examining the artifact in his hands.

"What exactly did you to that thing to get it to work?" asked Clover.

"Well, don't you remember? I drained the Chronometer of all its energy, then allowed Kendra to charge it. It should we working as good as new."

"Wait a minute," said Kendra. "When we originally had the Chronometer, it was only able to transport up to _five_ people through time at once. It was later enhanced to remove that cap."

"So, maybe we should send five of us forward in time," said Bright, "send the Chronometer back to this time, and have the other travel forward?"

"Assuming it at least functions at all," noted Seth.

"Once you all return to your time," said Gilvenoff, "I would then bid everyone farewell and return to this time with the Chronometer, where I would see to it that it gets hidden away at Lost Mesa."

"That's could work," said Warren. "Let's just hope that this Chronometer does as well."

Warren set the Chronometer on the ground again. "All right, I'll go first. Kendra, Seth, Clover and... Raxtus, why don't you four come with me? We'll come back for the rest of you right away."

Warren bent down and placed his hand on the Chronometer. Kendra and Seth joined him, as did Clover and Raxtus. Once again, Warren flicked the switch.

At that moment, Kendra and Seth could feel the sensation of being hurled through time. Still not fully used to the feeling, Seth felt as though his entire body was being crumpled together, while the scenery surrounding him looked as though it was being mixed into a blender.

After falling onto his back, Seth could the cool, snowy ground brushing against his skin. He looked up the night sky, then down at his body and saw that he was naked. "Not again!" he cried, as he sat up. The others all appeared to be naked as well.

"Hold on," said Clover, waving her arms around as she conjured up silky green clothes onto the bodies of herself, Kendra, Seth and Warren. Raxtus merely grew back into his dragon form, bypassing the need for any clothing.

"They really shouldn't have designed the Chronometer that way," said Seth.

"Where _is_ the Chronometer, anyway?" asked Raxtus.

Everyone looked down at the exact spot where the Chronometer had been set in the past. But it was nowhere to be found.

"Oh boy," said Warren. "We've got to wait thirty minutes before it will reappear at this spot, so that it'll send us back to when we came."

"But we don't all want to go back," said Seth. "Just one of us."

"Then the rest of just need to not stay at this exact spot," said Warren.

"Have we travelled to the right year?" asked Clover.

"I hope so. Maybe we should go and investigate."

"Warren, what time is it?" asked Seth.

"I set the Chronometer to Monday at 4 A.M. Dale's always the first one up at five every morning, so it should give us some time to check out the house if we need to, since no one should've been up at this time."

"Sounds like fun," said Seth.

"Well, I need you and your sister to stay here," said Warren. "I'm going to ride Raxtus over to the house, just to make sure we've arrived at the correct date. Just wait here, we'll be back soon."

Kendra and Seth watched as Warren and Clover climbed onto Raxtus' back, and the fairy dragon took off in the direction of the house.

"That's not fair," said Seth, kicking the ground. "They fly off while we get stuck waiting around here."

"He needs to be back within the half hour," said Kendra. "Just take it easy."

"Why do we have to wait at the Inverted Tower?" asked Seth, climbing up onto the platform. Looking down at the entrance, he could see that it was now sealed, as it had been locked up once the Sands of Sanctity had been removed.

"Because," said Kendra, "we're already around at this point in time. "You're currently asleep at the house, while I'm in that basement that Oblivion locked Mom and I in on the way to New York. We need to stay hidden because nobody ran into us, the current us that is, between now and when we initially went back in time tomorrow. Understand?"

"Not... really."

"Me neither."

"Hey, we can at least use this time we have to look for the Skullifier," said Seth, as he hopped back down off of the platform, then proceeded to examine the wall. "I'm pretty sure it' sealed up right... there!"

"With what will you open it?" asked Kendra.

"Maybe I can jiggle it loose," said Seth, pushing against the stone with his hands. He didn't appear to be making any progress.

"Let's just wait for Raxtus to get back and let him do it."

"We should've asked Clover to conjure up a jackhammer while she was still here."

"I guess we should just wait the others' return," said Kendra, sitting down with back against the wall of the platform.

Seth turned away from the wall and sat down next to Kendra. Just as he looked up at the sky, he could see Raxtus flying back towards them.

"That didn't take long!" said Kendra.

"Back already?" asked Seth, as Raxtus landed nearby.

"All I did was slip inside and check the date," said Warren, as he and Clover climbed down off of Raxtus. One quick peek at Stan's cell phone, and I was able to verify the year and everything. We're good to go. We just need to wait so that I can go back in time and bring the others forward."


	25. Counter Attack

**Chapter 25: Counter Attack**

Kendra, Seth, Warren, Clover and Raxtus all sitting around the platform outside the Inverted Tower, waiting for the half hour to pass.

"Oh right," said Seth, as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Raxtus, as long as we're waiting, do you think you'd be able to open up that secret compartment and grab the Skullifier?"

"Sure," replied the fairy dragon. "It'll give me something to do, if nothing else."

Everyone turned to face the platform, where they examined each and every last stone with their eyes.

"I'm pretty sure it was that stone right there," said Kendra, pointing to what she believed was where the Skullifier had been hidden in the past.

"Got it," said Raxtus, positioning his nails around the stone. Just as he had done so in the past, Raxtus pulled on the stone, ripping it right out of the wall. Everyone could tell that it was the right one, as not only was the stone at its reduced size, but the Skullifier was sitting inside the hole.

"Awesome," said Seth, reaching into the hole and pulling out the artifact.

Raxtus placed the stone back into the hole, but was unable to get it to stand up in its proper position.

"Let me help you with that," said Clover, as she conjured up some magic, which she then used to secure the stone into place.

"Think about it," said Warren. "If we technically haven't altered history, then the Skullifier has been stored here all along, including when Kendra and I went down into the vault. Hah, to think it's been right under our noses all this time."

"Something's wrong with it, said Seth, examining the Skullifier within his hands. "Those crystal eyes it had are gone."

Kendra looked over at the Skullifier, noticing that the eye sockets no longer contained the crystals it previously had.

"It's just lost all of its power," said Clover. "After all, it's been idle for centuries."

Kendra then reached over and placed her hand upon the Skullifier. Just like the time before, she could feel energy flowing through her body and into the artifact. Soon, the Skullifier's onyx eyes re-manifested within its eye sockets.

"Problem solved," said Seth smugly.

* * *

I think it's almost time," said Warren. "I'm going to remain in this spot, so that the Chronometer transports me back to 1689. "The rest of you need to back off, or you'll come back too."

Nodding in agreement, Kendra, Seth, Clover and Raxtus all walked away from the platform to the inverted tower, not stopping until they were roughly thirty feet away from where Warren was standing.

As the four of them turned around, they looked over at Warren just in time to watch as his body suddenly vanished in a flash of light. The clothes he had been wearing all fell onto the snow in the spot where he had been standing.

"I guess it worked," said Kendra, as she and the others all sprinted up to the spot where Warren had just been.

"So Warren went back in time," said Seth. "But what happened to him? Or the Chronometer? I mean, why is he not back already with the others?"

"Maybe they went to the wrong time?" said Clover. "By mistake?"

"Or maybe that Chronometer broke," said Raxtus.

"What if he never made it back to the Chronometer?" exclaimed Clover. "What if he's lost in time with no way back? We'll never find him!"

Kendra and Seth could both feel their hearts sinking. What if something really had happened to Warren. What if he, along with the others, were unable to make it back to the present?

A brilliant light appeared before the group, taking everyone by surprise. Once it faded, Warren had returned, along with Bright, Bracken and Geminus. It came as no surprise that the four of them were naked.

"What happened?" gasped Kendra, as Warren bent down to put his clothing back on.

Warren rolled his eyes, slipping back into his shirt. "Nothing exceptional."

Bright and Bracken had re-clothed themselves using their own magic, while Geminus simply assumed her dragon form.

"We were waiting around for a while," said Seth. "What took you guys?"

"The first group arrived here at 4 A.M." said Warren. "And I went back at four thirty. "Not wanting to risk any conflict of there being two of me in the same place at the same time, I set the Chronometer to send the rest of us to four thirty-one, one minute _after_ I went back in time. Sorry if I made you guys worry."

"No more than usual," said Clover, giving Warren a hug and a kiss.

"Where's Gilvenoff?" asked Seth.

"When Warren assured us that you guys all made it to the proper time," began Bright, "Gilvenoff theorized that there was no need for him to come forward with the rest of us. The Chronometer is back in the past with him, so that he can get it to Lost Mesa."

"Makes me wonder," said Kendra. "If the Chronometer originally found its way to Lost Mesa for Patton to discover in the first place because of what we've just done."

"So now that we're all here," said Raxtus, "what do we do now?"

"We wait for Oblivion to cast her stupid spell, right?" asked Seth.

"But wait," said Bracken. "By doing that, it we'd have never gone back in time and gotten the Chronometer to Lost Mesa. We need to not interfere with anything that would've led up to the point when we went back in time."

"But when we went back in time," said Geminus, "we only had minutes before the army would've attacked Fablehaven."

"That might be all we need," said Warren. "We'll wait until the moment after we went back in time, then use the Skullifier to dispel any magic that Oblivion's used to take control of the army. If they're not under her control, the army won't actually attack Fablehaven."

"And if that doesn't work," said Seth, "we can just use the Skullifier to free the keepers and their instruments."

"It's risky, and it would take some time," said Warren. "But it might be our only hope if this doesn't work. For now, it's best we wait things out."

"But we have all of today and tomorrow before that happens," said Seth. "And we've got to spend it camping out in these woods?"

"Not a great idea," said Bright. "We risk getting noticed by other creatures the longer we stay here. And besides, who really wants to camp out in the winter when we don't need to be here for the time being?"

"But where are we supposed to go?" asked Kendra. "We don't have ID, money or anything."

"Oh yes we do," said Warren with a grin, as he, removed a wallet from his pocket.

"Warren, what are you doing with that?" asked Seth.

"It's Stan's emergency wallet," said Warren. "He won't know it's gone, because he never uses it. But the credit cards are kept up to date, so we should be good."

"You just took it without asking?" asked Kendra.

"I didn't want to risk asking him. But he gave me permission to use it if I ever had to. Look, I'll explain everything to him after all of this is over. Don't worry."

"So, where should we go from here, then?" asked Clover.

"Somewhere where we won't already be."

"Well, other than Fablehaven," began Kendra, "we spent Monday and Tuesday around New York City and Hartford."

"So let's go to Providence" said Warren. "It's in another state, and it's in the opposite direction of New York City from here."

"What'll we do while we're there?" asked Bright.

"Take a rest," said Warren. "Go shopping, try to take it easy. We've got a lot of weight on our shoulders, but as long as we've got time to kill, we can at least stop to catch our breaths."

"Let's roll," said Bracken, as he transformed back into a unicorn. Kendra and Bright climbed onto his back, while Warren and Clover got onto Raxtus and Seth got onto Geminus. The group then leapt into the sky, flying off into the east towards Rhode Island.

* * *

The next day or so that the group spent in Providence turned out to be rather relaxing. They were at no risk of running into their past selves, and could just go at their own pace for once. They spent the Monday eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at various restaurants, and purchased new clothes and supplies for themselves at Providence Place mall. Warren had also managed to sneak a bit a walrus butter from his trip to the house the previous day, so Seth was able to see the fairies and dragons.

After they finished for the day, the group checked in to a hotel. Warren surprised them all by revealing that he had his own ID contained within the wallet, along with a credit card, which he was able to use to book two adjoining rooms for the group. Kendra and Seth shared a room with two beds, while Warren and Bracken shared the other. Bright and Clover were all right sleeping in their private zones, while Raxtus and Geminus kept small and slept on a pillow atop of a chair in Kendra and Seth's room.

Going to sleep around eight o'clock, the group woke up around seven. The good night's sleep made a world of difference. Had there been no attack on Fablehaven for them to deal with, Kendra and Seth could've just forgotten about their worries and actually enjoyed themselves.

Early in the afternoon, the group made their way back to the woods around Fablehaven. As far as they were aware, the original group had just come back from the court case in Hartford. They soon found themselves outside the fence surrounding Fablehaven, nowhere near the main gate.

Warren seemed to recall that they initially went back in time at around six fifty, so they could likely expect the jet that prompted them to time travel to arrive roughly a few minutes before then. According to a watch they had purchased in Providence, it was currently three minutes after two.

To pass the time away, the group told each other various stories and played games such as twenty questions, eye spy and a game in which one person would name a geographical location, and the next had to pick another that started with the same letter the previous one ended in. They also packed an assortment of snacks to munch one while they waited.

At roughly six o'clock, Seth spotted several people dressed in police uniforms walking through the trees and up to the group. Raxtus quickly turned invisible, while Geminus shrunk down to a fairy.

"Excuse me," said a woman, once the police all arrived, "but may I ask what you folks are doing here?"

"Just... looking for a Christmas tree," said Warren.

"We're going to have to ask you folks to leave," said a man. "The property behind that fence is currently under lockdown. We need you to vacate the area."

"All right," said Warren. "We'll go."

The group all walked through the heading, away from Fablehaven, not stopping until the police behind them were seemingly out of sight.

"This is great," said Seth sarcastically. "We're only lucky they didn't try to arrest us."

"They had bigger fish to fry," said Bracken.

"Yeah," noted Warren. "Us."

"I hope Oblivion wasn't in control of those guys," said Clover. "If she or Jake saw us through their eyes..."

"Trask implied that there were lots of police troops outside of Fablehaven when he was on the phone. No way Oblivion and Jake could've been controlling every last one of them. She was probably in control of only a few of them, just giving orders to the others."

"We need to get to the front gate of Fablehaven," said Bright. "That's where most of them probably are."

"We'll keep our distance, though," said Bracken, as he transformed into a unicorn. "Come on."

Raxtus and Geminus grew back into dragons, and the group scurried through the forest, veering around the perimeter of Fablehaven, while making sure to keep their distance to avoid getting spotted by any more police officers."

Roughly twenty minutes later, they arrived near the entrance to Fablehaven, where seemingly dozens of police cars had been parked up along the roadway near the main gate. Lots of police officers appeared to be in the vicinity. The group kept a good distance, hiding behind a cluster of trees.

"Attention Stanley Sorenson!" blared a policeman through a megaphone aimed towards the estate. "This is the Connecticut State Police! You and your family are all under arrest and must surrender to us immediately!"

"That's preposterous," said Kendra.

"They're not following the law," said Warren. "Oblivion's making them, or getting their superiors to tell them to do so."

"Let's just stop them already," said Seth.

"We can't," said Warren. "Not until we've travelled back in time."

Several minutes later, Kendra spotted the police stopping somebody's car. She glanced through her binoculars at the car, and was able to make out Trask sitting in the driver's seat.

"It's Trask," said Kendra, passing the binoculars to Seth.

"He's going to call be calling Stan about all of this soon," said Warren.

They watched as Trask then made a u-turn and drove down the road, away from the entrance to Fablehaven. Soon, several tanks drove up towards the gate, aiming their turrets towards the property.

"Man, Trask wasn't kidding about any of this," said Seth.

"It's almost time," said Warren, observing his watch.

Soon, they could hear the roar of a powerful engine soaring above their heads. Looking up, they could all see the jet aircraft they had heard back when they were in the house, soaring several hundred feet in the air above them.

"Guys, we need to act now," said Warren, removing the Skullifier from his bag.

"How are we supposed to stop that jet that's flying around from down here?"

"There's gotta be some military officer out there's who under Oblivion's control. If we can cancel out Oblivion's magic on them, they'll come to their senses and call off the strike. Stand back, all."

Warren held the Skullifier out in front of him and released its power towards the military unit that was parked outside the gate. Darkness shot out of the artifact's eyes and flashed a wave of darkness towards the squad.

"Did it work?" asked Seth once the darkness faded. Looking through the binoculars, he could see that the officers seemed confused, but was unsure if anything had changed.

"All units fall back!" blared a commanding officer through a megaphone. "I don't know what happened, or why I brought us here, but we have no right attacking this property. They are not posing any sort of threat! I repeat! All units fall back!"

Seth watched as the commanding officer lowered the megaphone, then placed his hand on his forehead and sulked. The man must've not been in control of himself, and probably couldn't figure out why.

"We did it!" exclaimed Geminus.

"Not quite!" noted Bracken. "That jet plane's still flying back and forth around the perimeter of Fablehaven! That army guy needs to get them to stop!"

"But that plane's part of the air force!" exclaimed Warren. "Not the army! Either way, the pilot's probably directly under Oblivion's control."

Warren aimed the Skullifier up into the air and activated the Skullifier's power, but the plane was too far away and moving too fast to be in range with the artifact's energy field.

"I can't reach the plane from here! I gotta fly! But I'm not fast enough!"

"Let me give you a boost," said Raxtus, gesturing for Warren to get onto his back.

"You come too, Seth," said Warren. "Your power over darkness might just help fend off the pilot."

Seth climbed up onto Raxtus' backside behind Warren, just as the dragon zipped up into the air. The dragon soared up several hundred feet, with Seth and Warren both holding on firmly.

The jet plane was veering around in the air, going far too fast for Raxtus to even keep up with.

"We need to slow it down!" said Warren. "Seth, use your power! Focus on the plane when it turns around again!"

Seth waited as the plane made a u-turn in the distance, flying back towards in his direction. Focusing entirely on the plane, Seth envisioned a veil of darkness surrounding it. As the plane drew closer, it slowed down, revealing that it was now partially encompassed by a cloud of darkness.

"Got it!" exclaimed Warren, emitting the Skullifier's energy onto the plane and through the darkness that Seth had produced. "If that didn't do it, nothing will! Seth, release your darkness!"

Seth envisioned the darkness he had conjured up around the plane now fading away, just as the aircraft soared past them. It then sped up and soared away from Fablehaven, making no effort to reverse its direction.

"I hope that worked," said Seth. "Raxtus, let's get back to the group!"

Nodding in agreement, Raxtus soared back down towards where the group was.

"You got the plane to leave!" exclaimed Kendra.

"Had to have been directly controlled by Oblivion in some way," said Warren. "We're only lucky she probably had no real experience in flying jet planes."

"But the army's still there," said Bright. "And so are the police."

The group watched as the police and military officer talked amongst each other for several minutes, before they ultimately returned to their cars, jeeps and tanks, and all drove off.

"Wait," said Clover. "Where're they all going?"

"They're... gone," said Kendra.

"That's it?" asked Geminus. "We can go back to Fablehaven?"

"Not quite," said Warren. "There's still Midwinter's Eve going on on the other side of the fence. We'll spend the night elsewhere, but we can breathe easy for now. We won."


	26. Negative Drive

**Chapter 26: Negative Drive**

Unable to venture back into Fablehaven due to the Midwinter's Eve festival that was taking place, the group opted to spend the night elsewhere. Riding atop Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus as they typically did, the group flew to the nearby town of Crossroad pass.

After landing in a quiet alleyway, the group made their way to a motel near the edge of the small town. Warren checked in, securing two rooms that, while next to each other, were not interconnected. The team split into two groups, same as they had the previous night; Kendra and Seth took one room, while Warren and Bracken went in the other. The fairies went with Kendra and Seth, while the dragons, in their minor forms, went with Warren and Bracken.

"Hey, a phone," said Seth, eyeing the telephone that sat on the night table. "Now that everything's over with, we can call home!"

Seth leapt onto one of the queen beds and reached out for the telephone. He grabbed the headset and quickly dialled the number to the house at Fablehaven.

"We're sorry," said a prerecorded feminine voice, "but the number you have dialled is unavailable at the moment. Please hang up and try again later."

"What gives?" cried Seth, hanging up the phone. "I just want to make a stupid phone call!"

"Seth, they cut off power to Fablehaven before we travelled back in time," said Kendra. "Don't be surprised that the phone's out."

"I forgot. Wait, I can just call his cell! He was using it to talk to Trask earlier anyway."

Seth placed his hand over the keypad, and held it in place for several seconds.

"Um, are you going to do anything?" asked Clover.

"I don't know Grandpa's cell number," said Seth. "Not by heart."

"What do you mean?" asked Bright. "You've called him in the past, haven't you?"

"I had the number saved in my phone. Which got left back at Fablehaven when we used the Chronometer."

"That's the problem with you humans and your technology," said Clover, "you're so reliant on it."

"And I suppose you'd be better off if you suddenly lost your magic?" asked Seth.

"Guys, cool it," said Kendra. "We've had a long day, but for now, there's nothing we can do to contact home. We'll go home in the morning, after the festival's ended, and everything will be fine."

The group went to bed soon after. Once again, they fell asleep fairly fairly early. When Kendra woke up, she saw that the digital clock on the night table read 6:56.

Kendra climbed out of bed and headed into the shower to wash up. When she came out of the bathroom, she was Seth standing before her.

"Warren came by just a moment ago. He wants us to get ready and meet him in his room."

Once Kendra had dressed up, wearing the same clothes as she had worn the previous day, she waited for Seth to come out of the bathroom and get dressed himself. The two siblings and the fairies then left their room and met up with rest of the group in the other room.

Not even bothering with getting any breakfast, save for some walrus butter, Warren checked the group out of the motel. Their stomachs rumbling from hunger, the group quickly flew out of town and back towards Fablehaven.

In just a few short minutes, the group had soared down towards the Fablehaven preserve, where they came to a landing in the yard. Once everyone had gotten off of them, Raxtus and Geminus shrunk down to their smaller forms, and Bracken resumed his human form.

The group poured through the front door. Although the entry hall was initially empty, they quickly caught the attention of Grandpa, Grandma, Mr and Mrs. Sorenson and Dale.

"You're back!" gasped Grandma, as she and the other adults all took turns giving everybody hugs.

"That was a miracle!" exclaimed Mr. Sorenson, hugging Seth firmly.

"Vanessa!" exclaimed Raxtus, as he and Geminus flew down to their baby, who was crawling around on the floor by Dale's legs, and hugged her.

"She's fine," said Dale. "I took good care of her."

"You always do," said Geminus.

"Please, tell us everything!" said Grandpa.

"Can we please eat first?" asked Seth. "We're starving!"

"We still have no power," said Grandpa. "And my cell phone's battery is low."

"We've got plenty of cereal and fruit," said Grandma. "I'll get some ready for you all."

The group sat down to a quick breakfast in the dining room, before they all headed into the living room to gather with the others.

"Where did you guys go?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"We only meant to travel back in time a few days," said Bracken. "But thanks to Oblivion's meddling, we wound up going back several million years."

"Are you serious?" asked Dale doubtfully.

"Bracken's saying it," noted Warren. "Not Seth."

"Hey!" snapped Seth.

"We really _did _go back that far," said Kendra. "There were dinosaurs and everything!"

"Not that you'd lie to us," said Grandma, "and not that the Chronometer couldn't go back in time that much, but why so far?"

"Whatever's cancelling out the effects of the instruments caused them to go haywire," said Warren.

The group went on to relay their adventure in the prehistoric era to the others, ultimately getting to the point where they had gone into stasis and travelled forward in time to 1689.

"Zoverdom?" asked Grandpa. "That's incredible. I'd heard that he was the wizard in charge of constructing the Inverted Tower, but that was little more than a legend. That's incredible that you were able to meet him."

They continued explaining their story, getting up to when they met Lady Evangeline.

"She was a Burgess?" asked Grandma. "I knew the family had been with the Knights since Patton's day, but not _that_ long ago!"

The conversation went on, up until they got to the point where they met Gilvenoff and learned about how the Chronometer was not one of the five artifacts, and that instead the Skullifier was.

"That's preposterous," exclaimed Grandpa. "Those artifacts have been around for eons!"

"Look, we were just as baffled as you," said Warren. "Truth is, with the exception of Bracken and the Font of Immortality, none of us know the true origins of any of the other instruments."

The conversation kept going on, wherein the group explained how they wound up at Malania Acres, traversed the vault at Eerie Mountain and got their hands on the Skullifier due to the fact that Xiantu had sacrificed herself for it.

"I can't believe that a guardian would put herself into such peril," said Dale.

"We didn't mean for it to happen," said Seth.

"Malania Acres was one of the preserves that got overturned by the society back when they were searching for the five artifacts," said Grandpa. "Had Xiantu not committed suicide to aid you, she may have been able to ward off the society and protect the preserve."

"We didn't know," said Clover.

"It's not your fault," said Grandma. "We're just reflecting on how your actions in the past affected the present. Deliberately or not."

"Sounds like a steep price to pay just for this blasted artifact," said Bracken. "Even if we were able to save Fablehaven with it. Why should one preserve suffer just to save another?"

The story wrapped up with the group hiding the Skullifier outside the Inverted Tower, then travelling forward in time to claim it.

"That was pretty clever of you," said Grandpa. "The Skullifier had been at Fablehaven this whole time, and nobody had any idea. I'm just glad you were able to save us all without causing any paradoxes."

"But what about the Chronometer?" asked Grandma. "It wound up in the past, so that it could be hidden at Lost Mesa for Patton to find. But we no longer have access to it."

"Hopefully we can get by without needing it again," said Kendra.

"It was just a copy of the original," said Warren. "And that one is still in hiding, wherever it is that Agad hid it."

"So, let's see this Skullifier that you went through so much trouble to obtain," said Grandpa.

Warren removed the Skullifier from within his bag, drawing faces of awe from all the other adults.

"That's incredible," said Grandpa, accepting the artifact from Warren. "You're saying that this thing cancels out any and all magic?"

"Pretty well," said Bright. "We need to be careful with it."

"Hey!" said Seth. "What are we doing sitting around here with the Skullifier? As long as we have it, we can use it to recover the instruments of eternal power and the keepers!"

"Right!" exclaimed Bracken. "Kinda lost track of that, since we couldn't get into Fablehaven last night to access the shrine because of the festival."

"I can go get the Translocator right now," said Grandma. "Um, but were you able to cancel out the magic that Oblivion used to disable the artifacts in the first place?"

Kendra shook her head. "I'm not sure where we'd start," she said, as Grandma got up from her seat and made her way upstairs.

"I don't care how powerful Oblivion is," said Clover. "No fairy could be so powerful that her magic would block out the artifacts like this indefinitely."

"It's possible that Oblivion's spell has run its course," said Bright. "Maybe if we drain the Translocator of its power and recharge it, it'll do the trick. It worked for the Chronometer."

"The Chronometer was recharged in the past, when there was no spell in effect that could alter it," noted Seth.

"Whatever," said Bracken. "If this doesn't work, we can always travel to the Fairy Kingdom by way of the shrine."

At that moment, Grandma had made her way back downstairs and returned to the living room holding the Translocator, which she placed on the coffee table.

"Let's try this," said Warren, taking the Skullifier back from Grandpa and aiming it down at the Translocator. Everyone watched as a shadowy wave of energy flowed out of the Skullifier and covered the other artifact.

"I hope this worked," said Seth, once Warren brought the dark energy to a halt.

"And now to recharge it," said Kendra, as she reached over and placed her hand upon the Translocator. As expected, she could feel energy surging through her arm and carrying over into the artifact.

"Is that it?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"I think so."

"Now, we just need to travel to the Fairy Kingdom," said Bright, picking up the Translocator.

"But, wait," said Bracken. "If the Translocator's been reset, then it'll only transport three people at once. I mean, that's what happened with the Chronometer."

"You're right," said Warren. "But we don't all need to go to the Fairy Kingdom. "Bracken, you and Bright should go, along with Kendra. "The rest of us can stay here."

"What?" asked Seth. "That's not fair! I want to go! They can just come back, or we can just go through the shrine instead even!"

"Let's just keep this simple," said Clover. "The sooner we get this whole charade resolved, the better."

Kendra accepted the Skullifier from Warren. "Well, I guess we'll see you soon."

"Yeah," added Bracken. "Not only are we going to save my sisters and the other keepers, but we can finally stop Oblivion with the Omega Star. We're so close to succeeding I can taste it!"

Bright twisted the Translocator and grabbed the middle section. Kendra proceeded to grab one side, while Bracken grasped the other. A moment later, Kendra experienced the all-too familiar sensation of being thrust through space via the Translocator.

The living room around her faded away, only to be replaced by an elegant-looking room; the throne room of the Fairy Queen. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made from diamonds, along with the numerous columns that adorned the room. Exquisite tapestries were draped from above, as were chandeliers that were seemingly made up of thousands of fine, elegant crystals. Fortunately, the had Chronometer worked properly, instead of transporting the group to an undesirable destination.

Sitting in her throne at the far end of the room was none other than the Fairy Queen herself.

"Bracken!" exclaimed the Fairy Queen. "Bright! Kendra! What are you doing here? Last I heard, Fablehaven was being targeted by some human army. I've been unable to get word from you since, due to the festival night that had just occurred."

"Mother!" exclaimed Bright, as the group of three scurried up towards the dais that the Fairy Queen's throne was situated upon. Bright immediately gave her mother a hug, followed by Bracken.

"It's good to see that you're all right," said the Fairy Queen, shaking Kendra's hand. "Please, you must explain to me what happened."

Kendra, Bracken and Bright all told the Fairy Queen the same story that had been given to the people back at Fablehaven. Despite her status as the lead fairy, the queen herself was also intrigued when the subject of the Skullifier being one of the original five artifacts was brought up.

"So, you brought this Skullifier into the Fairy Kingdom?" asked the Fairy Queen, once the story was over.

"Yes," said Kendra, displaying the artifact for the Fairy Queen. "We can use it to rescue the keepers and the five artifacts."

"While I'm grateful that you may have found a solution, it's not one that entirely assured with."

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra. "If this Skullifier can in fact save the keepers and the instruments, why complain?"

"The principle of the Skullifier is that it drains magic," noted the Fairy Queen. "Our world is heavily reliant on magic. That Skullifier could cause greater harm than what it could restore."

"We understand," said Bracken. "But we've been through so much just to get hold of it."

"I trust you three. But the thought of something going awry due to misuse of the Translocator still worries me. And the thought of it falling into the wrong hands only strengthens my concerns."

"Mother, can we just do what needs to be done?" asked Bright.

"Very well. The well being of my children and the other keepers can't be ignored. We'll go to Brook first."

"Actually," said Kendra, "we have the Translocator on us. Could you restore its ability to transport more users at once? It'd help us a lot."

"Of course," said the Fairy Queen, accepting the Translocator from Bright. Gripping the artifact in both hands, the Fairy Queen caused the Translocator to glow in a flash of white light, which faded after a second. "That should do it."

The Fairy Queen then handed the Translocator over to Bright. "As practical as the artifact may be, it serves me no use within my own realm. I can travel wherever I need to go under my own power.

The Fairy Queen waved her arms in a circular motion. Suddenly, Kendra's surroundings faded out of existence, transporting her and the others to another room. She instantly recognized the place. It was one of the chambers of the five keepers.

Kendra looked around the room. She was quick to notice the motionless fairy angel that was lying in her bed. Her body no longer covered by any blankets, Kendra couldn't quite make out which keeper it was due to the dark aura that surrounded the body. However, she knew that Tiara, Opal and Brook had all been immobilized while in their beds, so it was presumably one of the three.

The other sight Kendra noticed was the instrument of eternal power that lay on the pedestal in the centre of the room. Like its keeper the instrument was covered in a dark aura, making it impossible for Kendra to identify.

"Brook!" exclaimed Bright. "Please, Kendra. Use the Skullifier, and..."

"Wait!" snapped Bracken. "If you use the Skullifier on Brook, you risk draining her of her power."

Kendra hesitated for a moment. "Can't we just heal her afterwards?"

"Kendra, if a fairy were to lose all of her power, she'd cease to exist!" blurted the Fairy Queen.

Kendra gasped. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Look, I can still use the Skullifier on the energy restraining the instrument, can't I? If it somehow drains the instrument of its power."

"It's worth a shot," said Bright. "All right, Kendra. "Try using the Skullifier on the Essence of Immunity."

Kendra nodded, then held up the Skullifier in front of her, directing it at the frozen Essence of Immunity. Remembering what Warren told her, Kendra focused on unleashing the Skullifier's inner energy.

A wave of shadows suddenly emitted from the Skullifier's eyes, covering the Essence of Immunity, along with the dark energy that was protecting it. Kendra held the Skullifier in place for a good ten seconds, before opting to cut the Skullifier's power. Once it ended, the Essence of Immunity was still encased in dark energy.

"Nothing happened..." said Bright worriedly.

"It worked before," said Bracken.

"I don't understand it myself," said the Fairy Queen. "My only theory is that since the Essence of Immunity is an instrument of eternal power, it's somehow been infused with the magic that's trapped it."

"You mean, it's impossible to disable the magic that's protecting it?" asked Kendra.

"Could be," said the Fairy Queen.

"But this isn't fair! We went through so much trouble just to get the Skullifier, and now that we've finally gotten this far, it turns out that it won't even help us!"

"Kendra," said Bracken, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We don't like this any better than you do. But think about it. We only went back in time to save Fablehaven, not to find the Skullifier."

"I know," said Kendra, as her eyes began to tear up. "But why? I thought we could fix everything that Oblivion wronged, but it didn't work! Even if we can't get the instruments, I would've at least wanted to restore the keepers. They did nothing to deserve this."

"Kendra," said Bracken. "We can't give up yet. I mean, your grandparents still have the Occulus back at Fablehaven, and with the Skullifier, we have the means necessary to get it working again. So if nothing else, we at least have a means of tracking her down.

Kendra nodded, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "You're right. "Let's return to Fablehaven and see what we can do."

"Goodbye," said the Fairy Queen, as Bright held up the Translocator. "And good luck!"


	27. Hide and Seek

**Chapter 27 – Hide and Seek**

Kendra watched as the world around her transformed from the throne room of the Fairy Queen into that of the living room back at Fablehaven. As she released her grip from the Translocator, she was able to make out Grandpa, sitting in an armchair.

"Did you succeed?" asked Grandpa excitedly.

"No," muttered Bright, lowering the Translocator down onto the table.

"What do you mean?" asked Grandma, as she and the others slowly entered the room.

Seth, who had been in the the kitchen with Warren, Dale and Clover, was walking into the living room when he heard the bad news.

"Why didn't it work?" asked Seth, sitting down on a couch.

Kendra, Bracken and Bright explained what had happened in the Fairy Kingdom, making a point of how they were unable to save both Brook and the Essence of Immunity.

"That's just... weird," said Warren. "I can understand why, but still."

"It's not fair!" shouted Seth. "It's like Oblivion thought of everything! How would she even know about the Skullifier and what we went through to get it?"

"It's just been bad luck," said Kendra. "Lots of bad luck."

"What are we supposed to even do now?" asked Geminus.

"We're still left with two major problems," said Grandpa. "One: The keepers and the the instruments of eternal power are still under lockdown. Two: Oblivion is still at large, and can still take control of people."

"And how is anybody supposed to find her now?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

Grandma's face lit up. "The Occulus, remember? I'm sure that with the Skullifier, we can restore it back to working order. I'll go get it now."

Grandma rushed upstairs, then returned a moment later with the Occulus in her hand, which she had retrieved from the vault in the attic. Grandma then placed the Occulus down onto the coffee table.

"All right, Kendra," said Grandpa. "As long as you're holding the Skullifier, do you mind using it to deactivate the Occulus?"

"All right," said Kendra. She aimed the face of the Skullifier towards the Occulus. Allowing herself to focus, Kendra released a wave of shadows from the eyes of the Skullifier, which engulfed the Occulus. After a few seconds had passed, Kendra stopped concentrating, bring a stop to the Skullifier's power.

"I hope that worked," said Grandpa, as Kendra placed the Skullifier down onto the coffee table next to the Occulus.

Kendra then reached over and picked up the Occulus. The moment her fingers made contact with it, she could already feel energy flowing through her arm and into the artifact. "I think that did it," she said.

"Mind if I give it a shot?" asked Seth. "I'm pretty good with the Occulus."

"He's telling the truth," said Grandma.

"Sure," said Kendra, handing the Occulus over to Seth. If anything, Kendra was relieved; she never enjoyed using the Occulus in the first place. If Seth was down with using it himself, why not give him the chance?

"All right, Seth," said Grandpa, "just focus on Oblivion..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Seth, clutching the Occulus in his hands. He then closed his eyes and began to concentrate on Oblivion.

Several seconds passed, but nothing happened. Seth continued waiting, thinking of nothing but Oblivion. Still nothing changed.

"Seth?" asked Bright.

"I'm trying!"

"Well, try harder, then," said Warren.

"I know what I'm doing!" Now be quiet. It's easier to focus when people aren't telling you what to do!"

Everyone remained silent, as Seth kept trying to zone in on Oblivion, wherever she might possibly be. After trying for a good solid minute, Seth gave in and opened his eyes.

"I don't get it. I just can't find her."

"Maybe the Occulus isn't working right," said Raxtus.

"I'm positive that I charged it just now," said Kendra. "Let me try it, just to make sure."

"Go ahead," said Seth, passing the Occulus back to Kendra.

Accepting the Occulus from her brother, Kendra clenched the artifact between her hands, shut her eyelids and began to focus on Oblivion. Nothing seemed to change. She focused as best she could, but despite her best attempt, she seemed to be going nowhere fast.

"I can't find her," said Kendra, her eyes still closed. "I'll try looking for Jake, just to be sure."

Kendra then dropped her focus on Oblivion, and began to concentrate on Jake. The image of the troublesome datchit in her mind, Kendra envisioned Jake, hoping to home in on him like she and Seth had tried with Oblivion. However, Kendra was unsuccessful in finding him.

"It just isn't working," said Kendra, as she opened her eyes and stopped using the Occulus.

"Does it really not work?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"Can't be," said Clover. "We got the other artifacts working when we used the Skullifier on them, followed by Kendra's recharging. Why should the Occulus be any different?"

"I've got a theory," said Warren. "Kendra, try searching for something else. Like Hugo."

"Okay," said Kendra, as she closed her eyes and grasped the Occulus firmly. Envisioning the golem in her mind, Kendra soon saw Hugo come into view. The Occulus seemed to be working just fine, as she was watching Hugo march around in the barn, carrying a large pail of milk. Kendra shifted her view upwards, and could see Viola's underside towering above the golem.

"It seems to be working for Hugo," said Kendra, as she opened her eyes, losing sight of the inside of the barn. "He's in the barn milking Viola."

"Right on schedule," said Dale.

"Guess this means Oblivion's used some sort of spell to conceal herself and Jake from the Occulus," said Bracken.

"Great," said Seth. "Now how are we supposed to find them?"

"I'm not sure," said Grandpa. "But the Occulus still works otherwise. We should at least be thankful for that."

"But that still doesn't help us," said Kendra. "How are we supposed to find Oblivion now?"

"What we'd do if we didn't have the Occulus at all," said Warren. "Investigate."

"Not a bad idea," said Grandma. "Maybe start looking at Dynabridge. If you can't find Oblivion herself, you may at least find a clue."

"All right," said Warren. "But, who should go?"

"Let's keep it small," said Bracken. "As long as we've got the Translocator in working order, getting around will be much easier."

"Maybe Geminus and I will sit this one out," said Raxtus. "We've been without Vanessa for several days until now. We'd like some time with her."

"Clover, Bright," said Warren, "you can come, but I want you to remain hidden. The fewer people that are traipsing around Dynabridge, the better."

"Let's get our things together," said Bracken. "Then we'll take off for Dynabridge."

Now that they had finally made it home, Kendra and Seth were able to change into clothes that they were more accustomed to. They were also able to pick up their gear. This time, they would make sure to bring Vasilis along with them, just to be safe. Seth would be the one to wield the legendary sword, whilst Warren had a regular sword. Kendra was bringing with her a crossbow.

Once they were all ready, Kendra, Seth, Warren, Bracken, Bright and Clover met back up in the living room.

"Let's do this," said Warren, as he twisted the Chronometer and held onto the central section. Kendra, Seth and the others all placed their fingers onto the Chronometer, and were soon whisked away.

The group then reemerged atop a rooftop, which came with a sudden drop in temperature. Looking around, they appeared to be on the roof of a highrise. They had travelled to the roof of the Dynabridge building in New York City.

"So," said Seth. "The plan is we go in, seek out Oblivion, and attack her?"

"If we can even find her," said Warren. "As far as I'm concerned, we've got a licence to kill."

"What if we can't find her?" asked Bright.

"We look for clues," said Warren. "If she's nowhere to be found, we might as well at least investigate. Surely somebody downstairs has some semblance of what Oblivion might be up to."

"I guess we're ready to go," said Kendra.

"We'll still be with you," said Clover, as she and Bright both vanished, each leaving behind a cloud of their trademark green and rainbow sparkles.

The group made their way over to the roof access door. Warren fiddled with the knob, but was unable to pull the door open.

"That thing locked?" asked Bracken. "Let me get it for you."

Bracken waved his hand over the doorknob. Once a click was heard, Bracken grasped the knob and pulled the door open, revealing a stairwell leading down into the building.

Bracken lead the way down the stairwell, followed by Warren, Kendra and Seth. Once they reached the top floor, which was the first floor they came across, Bracken stopped in front of the door.

"All our gear and weapons are in bags, right?" asked Warren. The others all responded by nodding. "Good, we can't give ourselves away too easily."

"Last time we were here," said Seth, we got chased around by that volgor and about a thousand security guards."

"We're not going to reveal our weapons unless provoked, or we spot Oblivion somewhere. Anyway, let's get on with this."

Warren pulled the door open, and the group poured out into the end of a long hallway.

"I seem to recall Mr. Stafford's office being down that way," said Kendra, pointing down the hallway, to where she remembered the office being located on their previous visit.

Kendra led the way down the hall, even though Seth also seemed to have a good idea of where Mr. Stafford's office was. Once they reached the end of the hallway, the group found themselves in the entry area of the floor, where all the elevators and the reception desk were located.

Sitting at the desk was Susan Dellman, the woman who had been there on their previous visit. Several other people, all dressed in business uniforms, were standing around the desk, all of whom were chatting together with Susan.

"Excuse me," said a man, turning to face the group, but can we help you?"

"Oh, hi there," said Susan, turning her head away from the other workers, and focusing on the group. "Welcome to Dynabridge!"

Kendra could tell that something was up. Didn't Susan remember them from their first visit?

"Hi..." said Seth cautiously. Just like Kendra, Seth got the impression that Susan was hiding something from them.

"How can I help you?" asked Susan.

"We're looking for Mr. Thaddeus Stafford," said Warren.

"He should be in his office now," said Susan. "And he's not busy as far as I know. It's right down there. Go on ahead and I'll let him know you're coming."

Kendra and Seth were both dumbstruck. Why was Susan being so accommodating? This whole thing seemed suspicious.

"Thank you," said Warren. He then proceeded down the far hall, which the group had travelled along on their first visit.

Kendra, Seth and Bracken followed Warren to the end of the hallway, where the double doors to Mr. Stafford's office were located.

"Be wary," said Warren, as he grasped one of the doorknobs and pulled the door open.

Bright and Clover appeared, both of them in their minor forms, and hid behind the unopened door. "We'll be on the lookout," said Bright.

Sitting at the desk at the far end of the well-furnished office was a man, most likely in his late sixties, who undoubtedly had to be Thaddeus Stafford.

"Hello there," said Mr. Stafford from his desk. "I understand you wish to see me?"

Kendra and Seth both nodded, then walked over towards Mr. Stafford's desk, alongside Warren and Bracken.

"I'm Thaddeus Stafford. How can I be of service you to people? Please, take a seat. Feel free to pull up some more chairs."

As there were only two chairs in front of Mr. Stafford's desk, Warren and Bracken each grabbed a chair from the side of the room and moved them in front of the desk. Kendra and Seth both sat down in the initial two chairs.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Mr. Stafford, taking a brief look at everybody, then stopping to extend his hand, expecting someone else to shake it.

After several seconds, Mr. Stafford received nothing but a stern look from Warren, then pulled his hand back. "I'm sorry. Is something bothering you?"

"We've got some questions for you," said Warren.

"Questions?" asked Mr. Stafford. "Can I interest any of you in a drink?"

Kendra noticed Warren shaking his head. "No thanks," she said.

"I'm good," said Bracken.

"No," said Seth, catching on.

"Well, I'm parched," said Mr. Stafford. He backed out of his seat and stood up. Now on his feet, it was apparent that Mr. Stafford was quite tall. He walked over to one side of the room and opened up a door that was built into the wood panelling in the wall. Inside was a mini fridge, from which Mr. Stafford removed a can of ginger ale.

"Don't mind me," said Mr. Stafford, pouring the can into a glass. "Today's my last day before the holidays. Tonight I've got to get to the airport to catch my flight. Taking the family to the Bahamas for the holidays."

Something wasn't right. Why was Mr. Stafford acting this way? He had to be under Oblivion's influence!

Mr. Stafford then walked back over towards the desk. Without warning, he tossed the glass he was holding at Seth's face.

Seth clenched his eyes as the glass collided with his face. It shattered almost too quickly. The broken pieces of glass grazed his skin, while iced tea and ice cubes left him drenched.

Before anyone could react, Mr. Stafford grabbed Kendra by her wrist with one hand. With his other hand, Mr. Stafford touched a clock that was on his desk. At that moment, Mr. Stafford and Kendra vanished is a flash of light.

"What happened?" gasped Bracken.

"I knew it!" hissed Warren. "Something felt wrong!"

"Kendra!" exclaimed Bracken. "He's got Kendra!"

"Help," moaned Seth, as he started to wipe the iced tea off of his face, trying not to soak his cuts.

Bright and Clover appeared next to the others, now at the full sizes.

"What happened!" cried Clover. "That man and Kendra just vanished!"

"It was a trap!" cried Bracken, as he snapped his fingers in front of Seth's face. The iced tea that was pouring down his face and onto his shirt immediately vanished, leaving him completely dry.

Warren then placed his hands onto Seth's face. The cuts he had received all healed up almost instantly.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Seth. "What happened to Kendra?"

"Mr. Stafford took her," said Bracken. "Somewhere..."

"Where?" cried Clover.

"I'd suggest touching that clock ourselves," said Seth. "But it must've vanished when Kendra and Mr. Stafford disappeared."

"If only I'd stayed hidden," said Bright. "If Kendra got whisked away, I would've gone with her!"

"We were too slow," said Bracken. "That iced tea getting thrown at Seth made us drop our guard."

"We've got to get back to Fablehaven!" cried Warren.

"But Kendra!" snapped Seth.

"They could be anywhere," said Warren. "Right now, we need to get back to Fablehaven and warn the others ASAP! Geez, I should've tried the Skullifier on Stafford while I had the chance."

Warren hurriedly removed the Translocator. He twisted it and signalled for the others to make contact with the artifact. As soon as Seth, Bracken, Bright and Clover were all touching it, they found themselves being whisked out of the office.

* * *

Just as soon as she had vanished out of Mr. Stafford's office, Kendra saw that she was now standing in another room. Mr. Stafford was still holding onto her left wrist, and looked down at her with a wicked grin.

The room they were in had no windows. No bigger than a small bedroom, the only furniture in the room was a square table surrounded by several chairs.

"Let go of me!" hissed Kendra, trying to pull away from Mr. Stafford's grasp. But alas, the larger man had a firm hold on her. In his other hand he was holding the clock.

"Shut up," said Mr. Stafford, as the door to the room opened up and Oblivion entered. Kendra's rapidly beating heart only started thumping ever faster at this point.

"Hello, Kendra," said Oblivion with a pleased grin.

"What's going on?" asked Kendra. "What is this place?"

"I don't know how you got the armed forces to leave Fablehaven," said Fablehaven. "But right now, I really don't care."

Oblivion then raised her arms and released dark energy from her hands, encasing Kendra in black energy which quickly faded away.

"What was that?" asked Kendra.

"_That _will prevent the Occulus from ever zeroing in on you, just in case your friends get the idea to try looking for you. I know that somehow you managed to disable the magic that I used to take control of the military, so restoring the artifacts couldn't have been far off."

"What did you do to Mr. Stafford?" asked Kendra angrily. "You've got Jake controlling him, don't you?"

Oblivion chuckled, as she unleashed her magic on Mr. Stafford. The man then shrank down into Jake.

"Fooled you, didn't I?" said Jake, letting go of Kendra's hand and dropping to the floor.

"Where's the real Mr. Stafford? What did you do with him?"

Oblivion rolled her eyes. "As if I would tell _you_. But I figured that the curiosity of you Knights would draw you back here to start snooping around, in an attempt to try and find me."

Kendra grumbled. "What is this place?

"We're in the basement at Dynabridge," said Oblivion. "But a lot of good that'll do you. This place is locked up tight and I've got control of the entire company! And now that your friends can't seek you out with the Occulus, you'll be staying right here!"

Oblivion snapped her fingers. Suddenly Kendra found her whole body tied up in rope, and her wrists handcuffed behind her back.

"Let's see you get out of this," said Oblivion, as she reached into Kendra's pocket and removed her cell phone. "This might be useful, but if it rings, I'll be sure to not answer it."

"All right," said Kendra. "You got me. But so what? What do you want from me?"

Oblivion chuckled. "You'll find out soon enough."


	28. Hex-Change

**Chapter 28 – Hex-Change**

As Seth and his allies sent themselves hurling through space by use of the Translocator, the office of Mr. Stafford seemingly underwent an abrupt transformation into the living room back at Fablehaven.

"My goodness!" exclaimed Grandpa, who had been sitting on his armchair, reading the newspaper. "What happened!"

"It's awful!" moaned Bracken, as the other adults entered the room. "We went to Dynabridge and met Mr. Stafford. But he..."

"Where's Kendra?" blurted Mrs. Sorenson, interrupting Bracken in mid-sentence.

"Mr. Stafford duped us," said Warren. "Or should I say... Oblivion. Stafford got the drop on us, grabbed Kendra, and teleported away somewhere!"

"No..." muttered Grandma. "Not again!"

"We didn't know what to do," said Seth. "The whole thing seemed suspicious."

"We just didn't have enough time to react," said Bright. "We didn't think he'd get away that quickly either."

"And who knows where they went," said Clover.

"The Occulus," said Seth. "I can still use it to find Kendra!"

"I just put it back in the attic," huffed Grandma, rolling her eyes.

"I'll get it," said Dale, as he bolted out of the living room and scurried up the stairs.

It was awful," said Seth. "Stafford threw a glass at my face! It really hurt, too."

"If we find Oblivion," said Warren, "I'll throw a lot more than glass at her face."

"We should've used the Skullifier on Stafford while we had the chance," said Clover. "

"I was hoping we'd have learned more about what was going on if we asked questions. Damn, how could I have been so _stupid_?"

Mr. Sorenson sighed. "You can't just go around attacking people. Warren, it's not.."

"It _is_ my fault! I should have told the fairies to take out Stafford while we had the chance."

Clover gave Warren a hug. "We got tricked. Look, Seth'll find Kendra with the Occulus, and we'll know where to find her."

"So long as we find her before it's too late," said Bracken.

Dale then returned to the living room, carrying in his hand the Occulus. He rushed over to Seth and presented the artifact to him.

"I can do this," said Seth, as he sat down in an armchair.

Closing his eyes, Seth held the Occulus firmly. All he had to do was concentrate and keep his focus on Kendra. Envisioning his sister in his mind, Seth attempted to use to use the Occulus' power to detect her, wherever she could be.

Nothing appeared to be showing up in Seth's vision. How hard could it be to locate Kendra? Not only had he done it before, but this was his older sister; he'd known her his entire life!

Just to be certain, Seth stopped thinking about Kendra, and instead focused on Hugo. Right away, a vision of the golem shovelling snow along the path that led from the house to Warren's cabin came into view. Knowing that he'd seen enough, Seth released his grasp on the Occulus and opened his eyes.

"I... can't find her," said Seth, feeling miserable inside. "The Occulus still works, but whatever Oblivion's done to conceal herself and Jake, she's also used on Kendra."

"You mean, she's gone?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, whose eyes were beginning to tear up. Mr. Sorenson complied by hugging her.

"We don't have any leads on Kendra," said Grandpa. "I don't know where to begin."

"Let's go back to Dynabridge," said Clover. "Maybe we can find still find something."

"Forget it," said Bracken. "Stafford could've taken Kendra anywhere. There's no way we can track her."

"Bracken," said Grandpa, "the reason that we can't recover the instruments of eternal power is because they resist the Skullifier. And we can't risk using the Skullifier on the keepers either."

"Right."

"If only there were a way to weaken the Skullifier's power," said Grandpa. "Maybe then it might be feasible to use it on the keepers."

"Way too much speculation with that plan," said Warren.

"Not only that," said Bright, "but the keepers are linked to their instruments. That's why only they have the power to remove one from its protective zone. The same force that repelled the Skullifier from the Essence of Immunity could just as easily repel it from Brook."

"You're absolutely sure there's nothing that the fairies could do to recover the instruments and keepers?" asked Grandma.

"Mother has tried everything," said Bracken. "She knows the peril that we're in and wants Oblivion to be stopped no less than we do.

At that moment, the telephone rang. "I'll get it," said Grandma, picking up the headset of the wireless phone that was on a nearby end table. "Hello? I'm Ruth Sorenson. Whom may I ask is calling?"

After a moment, Grandma dropped her jaw, then covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "It's Oblivion!"

Everyone in the room nearly froze. "You sure?" asked Grandpa.

Grandma pressed the speakerphone button and placed the headset down onto the coffee table for everybody to hear.

"What do you want from us?" asked Grandma.

"It's very simple," said Oblivion, her voice coming out of the phone. "I have Kendra, and you don't."

"How could you?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, her face in tears. "Why would you take my daughter away from me?"

"You people have something that I want. And now I have something that you want. I propose a trade."

"Don't tell me," muttered Seth under his breath.

"I want the instruments of eternal power."

"If you had those, you'd be unstoppable!" exclaimed Bracken. "As important as Kendra is to us, handing the instruments over to you would just make everything worse."

"Well then, I guess I'll just keep Kendra to myself. I'm sure I can find some use for her."

"We want our daughter back!" roared Mr. Sorenson.

"Then present me with the instruments of eternal power."

"How?" asked Bright. "They're protected by _your_ power. We couldn't give them to you if we wanted to."

"And if I were to sever my power over the instruments, then you fairies could just use their power to stop me."

"Guess you didn't think this one through, did you?" asked Clover.

Oblivion sighed. "Tell you what. I'll sweeten the deal. I'll give you back Kendra in exchange for the Drakesoul."

"What?" asked Grandpa.

"I'll release the Drakesoul from my curse. You then bring it to me, and I'll give back Kendra. How does that sound?"

"The Drakesoul?" asked Grandma. "Why should we give you a tool of such tremendous power in exchange for our granddaughter whom you wrongly abducted from us?"

"Look, if you're not interested..."

"We're interested," said Grandpa, sighing.

"Good. I'll release my hold over the Drakesoul. You then retrieve it from the Fairy Kingdom. I'll send a messenger with Kendra who'll meet you at the entrance to Fablehaven at 6:00 PM tonight. If you hand over the Drakesoul, Kendra is yours, alive and well."

"How do we know you'll actually give her back?" asked Seth.

"We'll perform a foe's swap," replied Oblivion. "Both parties will get what they bargained for. Is it a deal?"

"It...," said Grandpa. "It... it's a deal."

"So glad we came to an understanding," said Oblivion. I'm going to release my hold on the Drakesoul now. Fail to deliver and you'll never see Kendra again."

Once Oblivion finished talking, she hung up.

"The Drakesoul?" asked Grandma, as she reached over to turn off the phone.

"We don't have much of a choice at this point," said Grandpa. "Oblivion has us wrapped around her finger and we can't afford to lose Kendra."

"Why the Drakesoul?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "To increase her power?"

"I would imagine," replied Grandpa, "but there must be more to it than that."

"I'd better get back to the Fairy Kingdom for now," said Bracken. "Bright, you come with me. We've got a lot of explaining to do."

Warren presented Bracken with the Translocator. The unicorn accepted the artifact and used it to transport both himself and Bright out of the room.

* * *

Still tied up, Kendra was lying on the floor of a room in the basement of Dynabridge. In the room with her was Jake, who was sitting in a chair, helping himself to a bag of barbecue potato chips. A bandana tied around her mouth, despite her best effort, Kendra was unable to speak properly. Her voice was muffled.

"Would you shuddap?" whined Jake, taking a break from shovelling chips into his mouth. "Oblivion spoke to your buddies at Fablehaven. She'll give you back when she gets the Drakesoul!"

Kendra was beside herself. This was the first she had heard about Oblivion's proposition. Had they actually agreed to give up the Drakesoul in exchange for her own safety? How would they even go about retrieving the Drakesoul when this whole mess revolved around the inability to pick up the instruments? There was no asking questions now. All she could do at this point was remain on the ground and wriggle around.

* * *

Seth waited around in the living room with the rest of his family for the next few minutes. If he wasn't worrying about Kendra being missing, he was worrying about what would happen if Oblivion did manage to get her hands on the Drakesoul.

Without warning, three figures appeared before everybody in the center of the room. Two of them were Bracken and Bright; the third was a slender fairy with silvery platinum hair whom Seth recognized, but couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Well, we're back," said Bracken, as the third fairy received surprised looks from almost everybody in the room.

"Bravia," said Clover, "you're all right!"

Bravia took in a deep breath. "I can't believe all that's happened. Last thing I remembered was Kendra using some sort of wand on me."

"Wait," said Seth, "how'd you free Bravia?"

"When Oblivion severed the force holding down the Drakesoul," replied Bright, "Bravia, its keeper, was freed with it."

"So, you have the Drakesoul?" asked Warren.

Bravia held up the aforementioned jewel. Making up one fifth of the Omega Star, the instrument of eternal power sported an oblong emerald held in a golden base.

"You're not really going to give it to her?" asked Seth.

"We have to," said Bright. "Mother wasn't pleased with our decision, but she'll give anything to protect Kendra.

"We've got a plan, though," said Bracken. "Once we get Kendra back, we spy on the Drakesoul using the Occulus. The Drakesoul will make its way back to Oblivion, and we'll be able pinpoint it."

"And how do you propose you'll even get the Drakesoul back from Oblivion?" asked Dale. "You'll have a powerful dragon to contend with.

"We've got the Skullifier," replied Bright. "Oblivion won't stand a chance against it."

"Let me see that Skullifier," said Bravia, "it sounds interesting."

"Here you go," said Warren, passing the artifact to Bravia. "But be careful. We were afraid to use it on you keepers in the event that its power eliminated you."

"Interesting," said Bravia, examining the Skullifier in her hands. "This skull feels almost fairy-like. But I'm getting negative vibrations from it. It's as though it was made from the skull of a fairy of darkness."

"A dark fairy?" asked Seth. "You mean, like another Oblivion?"

"Not even. Oblivion was a normal fairy that defected to the dark side. What we have here seems more like a negafae."

"A negafae?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "What's that?"

"A fairy, or rather, the equivalent of a fairy, that hails from the demon realm," replied Bracken.

"I don't think I've ever seen a negafae," said Seth.

"Be thankful for that," said Bright.

"Seth," said Grandma, "you remember when the fairies were overtaken by the shadow plague?" asked Grandma. "Using their magic to corrupt anything? Imagine fairies who do that sort of thing, only naturally. Those would be negafae."

"Where are these negafae?" asked Seth.

"Fortunately, they're almost unheard of outside of the demon realm," replied Bravia. "They're so vulnerable to light, that most of them couldn't survive, even in the mortal world. The one who had its cranium ending up as the Skullifier was probably the negafae equivalent of a fairy angel."

Warren sighed. "Our only advantage here is that we actually have the Skullifier, and that Oblivion has no idea whatsoever."

"Hopefully she's not trying to shoehorn any real information out of Kendra," said Grandpa.

"She'd better not. No way Oblivion's entitled to the Drakesoul if we can't so much as get Kendra back safe and sound."

"Here's something I don't get," said Seth. "How are we supposed to trade over the Drakesoul for Kendra without the two sides fighting each other?"

"We're going to be using a form of magic called a foe's swap," replied Bravia. "It allows two parties to make an exchange from a distance. They're usually only performed as a last resort between sides that are at odds with each other, but wish to make an exchange. Basically, it will prevent either side from pulling a fast one as it requires both parties to willingly give up whatever it is they're offering."

"So, we won't have to get anywhere near that messenger? Then what's to stop us from going after him or her after the trade is completed?"

"Technically nothing," answered Bright. "But who knows what else Oblivion might send along with it."

* * *

Later in the day, with less than minutes left to go until it would be six o'clock, Seth, along with everybody else at Fablehaven had travelled to the inside of the front gate. In her hands, Bravia was holding onto the Drakesoul.

"You think they'll actually bring Kendra?" asked Raxtus.

"They better," replied Bracken. "Oblivion's aware of our proposition, and we know that she'll want the Drakesoul."

"What if this whole thing doesn't work?" asked Seth. "If they really can get away with the Drakesoul, what's to stop Oblivion from blackmailing us out of the rest of the instruments?"

Before anyone could answer, a figure could be seen through the gate, approaching from down the road.

"What is that thing?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"It looks like... a centaur," said Dale.

"That's no ordinary centaur," said Bracken. "Look at its body."

Once the centaur had gotten closer, Seth could now see it for what it was through a pair of binoculars. The upper body of the creature was human-like, but it sported spiralling horns, glowing red eyes and long, dark hair. The lower body was similar to a horse, with black fur and sported a pair of bat-like wings.

"I've never seen a centaur like _that_ before," said Warren, as the centaur stopped roughly one-hundred feet away from the gate.

"It looks like it's part... nightmare," said Clover.

Although he had never seen one, Seth recalled being told about the nightmares at Pileus Palace. If you made contact with one, you'd lose your life.

"It's a nightaur," said Bracken nervously. "I thought they were just an old fairies' tale, made up to scare children."

Everyone watched as the nightaur produced a megaphone, which he held up to his face.

"Attention folks at Fablehaven! I have with me Kendra!"

"Should one of us go out there?" asked Warren.

"We need to reason with him," said Grandpa. "But I'll need a megaphone."

"Here," said Bright, magically conjuring up a megaphone in her hands and presenting it to Grandpa.

"Be careful," said Grandma, as Grandpa opened the gate and stepped through cautiously.

"Where is Kendra?" asked Grandpa, his voice now amplified through the megaphone.

"She's right here," said the nightaur, turning his body around to the side. Tied up on his back, sitting on a saddle, was Kendra. She seemed to be unconscious.

"What did you do to her?" asked Grandpa.

"She's been put to sleep. But don't worry, I'll wake her up."

The nightaur squatted down and allowed Kendra to roll off of his back and onto the ground. He then used a wand on Kendra, causing her to wake up from a deep sleep. Kendra felt extremely groggy.

"See, she's alive! Now don't try any funny stuff! If I make direct contact with her skin, Kendra will die."

"Can we try using the Skullifier on that nightaur?" asked Seth. "It'd weaken him enough that we wouldn't have to do this foe's swap."

"He's too close to Kendra," replied Bravia. "What would hinder him would also harm her."

"Let's just shoot him," said Seth. "He's just standing there."

"Even if we hit him," said Warren, he'd still have time to touch Kendra and kill her."

"Bravia," said Grandpa, turning back to face the group, "that's your cue."

Bravia stepped out through the gate, and accepted the megaphone from Grandpa. "I'm ready when you are."

"Prove that the Drakesoul works," said the nightaur.

Bravia nodded. Holding the instrument firmly, everybody watched as she grew into a massive, silvery fairy dragon, not too far off from resembling Raxtus, only much larger. She was quite majestic in her own right, towering over the entire area, with sparkling scales that exerted an almost rainbow-like hue. After a few seconds, Bravia reverted back to her proper form.

"Good," said the nightaur.

Holding the Drakesoul in one hand, Bravia aimed a beam of silvery energy into the air between herself and the nightaur. Nodding, the nightaur used his wand to shoot a beam of black energy up at the the one Bravia had just conjured up. A blinding flash of white light now appeared where the two beams had intersected.

"Ready when you are, said Bravia, with the Drakesoul now surrounded by a silvery aura.

With the beam he had conjured still intact, the nightaur used his wand on Kendra. For a moment, both herself and the Drakesoul seemingly vanished. A moment later, Kendra appeared on the ground next to Bravia, while the Drakesoul appeared in the nightaur's hand.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Grandpa. "Are you all right?"

"What's going on?" asked Kendra, her head feeling very dizzy.

"Thanks for the Drakesoul!" laughed the nightaur, as he waved his wand. He then disappeared into thin air, bringing the Drakesoul with him.


End file.
